Deadly flooding in China worsens as rescue work continue and areas downriver brace for high water

Heavy rain and high water levels on rivers in northeastern China were threatening cities downstream on August 4, prompting the evacuation of thousands.

Heavy rain and high water levels on rivers in northeastern China were threatening cities downstream on August 4, prompting the evacuation of thousands, although the country appears to have averted the worst effects of the typhoon season battering parts of east Asia.

Hebei province surrounding the capital Beijing on three sides issued alerts for several of its cities. The province of Heilongjiang to the north, was evacuating entire villages in anticipation of life-threatening deluges.

Rescue work remains under way. At least 20 people have been reported killed in Beijing’s outer suburbs and another 27 were missing following the weekend storms that quickly overwhelmed drainage systems.

Beijing usually has dry summers, but had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year that broke dramatically over the weekend with almost a week of constant rain and drizzle. Power was knocked out in areas, public transport and summer classes were suspended and citizens of the metropolis of more than 20 million were told to stay home.

The nearby cities of Tianjin and Zhuozhou were also hit hard. Fire services aided by volunteer rescue groups searched apartment buildings and railway tunnels for stranded people, bringing hundreds to safety.

With its status as the nation's capital, the headquarters of the ruling Communist Party and home to cultural treasures such as the ancient Forbidden City, Beijing has provided special protection from flooding through the diversion of waters to neighbouring regions. That sparked complaints on social media, on Friday, of flooding in surrounding areas that could allegedly have been avoided if the rainwater had been flushed through the capital's system of canals and rivers.

Other regions, especially in China’s south, have suffered unusual deadly summer flooding. Other parts of the country are struggling with drought, putting further pressure on food supplies for the nation's 1.4 billion people already struggling with the disruption in grain shipments resulting from Russia's war against Ukraine.