The torrential rains hitting northern China on Saturday killed at least 10 more people in the region around Beijing, bringing the death toll to at least 30 since the start of the week.
At least 10 dead and 18 missing were announced on Saturday for the province of Hebei, neighboring the capital, according to a still provisional assessment for these bad weather unprecedented in their intensity in a region which usually lacks water.
Typhoon Doksuri, downgraded to a storm after hitting the neighboring Philippines, has swept through parts of China in recent days with torrential rains.
Beijing and its greater region have been particularly affected.
Thanks to a lull on the weather front, clean-up operations continue on Saturday after the worst rainfall in years, which destroyed infrastructure and flooded entire neighborhoods.
The most affected area is by far Hebei, a neighbor of Beijing, where huge expanses of water submerge the province for miles around.
In Baoding, which has 11.5 million inhabitants and is known for its steel production, more than a million are affected by these floods, according to the town hall, which on Saturday reported at least 10 dead and 18 missing in its jurisdiction, and more than 600,000 people in Baoding evacuated.
The situation is also critical in Zhuozhou, large parts of which are submerged under the waves.
Spectacular aerial photos of the city, taken by AFP on Wednesday, show shopping streets transformed into brown-water rivers.
Others show farmland completely submerged.
Several hundred kilometers away, torrential rains hit northeast China for the second consecutive day on Saturday, in particular the provinces bordering Russia and North Korea, essential for cereal production, where they caused at least one dead.
Images on social networks show torrents of dung water in the streets of the metropolis of Jilin (3.6 million inhabitants), capital of the region of the same name.
In the neighboring province of Liaoning (northeast), six reservoirs have exceeded the alert threshold, according to New China, and the level of the main course of the Liaohe, one of the largest rivers in the country, exceeds 33 cm the permitted limits.
China has been facing extreme weather conditions and locally unusual temperatures in recent months, exacerbated by climate change according to scientists.
Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Beijing-based NGO, told AFP this week that while the typhoon brought the heavy rains, the intensity of the weather was also due to climate change and to the rise in ocean temperature.
“China has suffered extreme and unprecedented heat waves since last year, with this year extreme heat waves in the north of the country. This is linked to global warming, the vast majority of scientists in the world agree. “, did he declare.
Last month, Beijing and its region broke temperature records with locally over 40°C.
Chinese authorities announced on Friday that natural disasters in the country left 147 people dead or missing in July. A report that only includes the very first victims of Typhoon Doksuri, which has affected China since the beginning of the week.
The rains that hit Beijing are the heaviest since records began 140 years ago, according to local meteorological services.
A red alert remains in effect Saturday in Beijing due to “geological hazards” such as landslides, despite a relatively sunny day.
05/08/2023 15:09:23 – Beijing (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
