The Chinese capital Beijing, hit by deadly floods, has seen its heaviest rainfall in recent days for at least 140 years, when records began, the meteorological services announced on Wednesday (August 2nd).
“The maximum value” of rainfall recorded between Saturday evening and Wednesday morning at a station in the city was 744.8 millimeters and it is the “heaviest rainfall for 140 years”, according to the Beijing Meteorological Service.
Accurate surveys began in 1883. “The previous record (…) before the current rainy episode” was established in 1891 with 609 millimeters, he pointed out.
The torrential rains that hit Beijing and the neighboring province of Hebei (North) left at least twenty dead and nineteen missing in total, according to official media, the floods having submerged roads and cut communication routes.
Forty Hours of Flood
Typhoon Doksuri, downgraded to a storm, has been sweeping across China from southeast to north since Friday, when it hit eastern Fujian Province after hitting neighboring Philippines.
Torrential rains had begun to batter the greater Beijing area on Saturday. In just forty hours, the Chinese capital had seen the equivalent of the average rainfall for an entire month of July.
Heavy rains in the capital itself killed at least 11 people, including a firefighter who was taking part in rescue operations, state television CCTV reported.
In neighboring Hebei, bad weather left at least nine dead and six missing, according to the same source. China is experiencing extreme weather and record high temperatures this summer, events that scientists say are exacerbated by climate change.
