The heaviest rain to hit Beijing in over 60 years left at least 10 people dead and forced more than 50,000 to evacuate, state media said Sunday.
Torrential rain pounded Beijing throughout Saturday before easing, but more downpours were forecast Sunday for northeast and southwest China where at least 10 others were reported dead over the weekend, Xinhua news agency said.
The rainstorms led to the evacuation of more than 50,000 people in the capital, mostly from Beijing’s outlying mountainous districts, as up to 46 centimetres (18 inches) of rain lashed some areas, the agency added.
A policeman who was electrocuted by a fallen power line during a rescue operation was among the fatalities in Beijing, while others were killed in traffic accidents and roof collapses, Xinhua said.
One woman died after her car was engulfed with water in an underpass on the capital’s central second ring road that was flooded with up to three metres (10 feet) of water.
Three bodies were recovered Sunday in Beijing’s mountainous Fangshan region where several landslides were reported, China National Radio reported, but it was not clear if they were included in the death toll of ten.
Up to 46 centimetres of rain fell in Fangshan district, the most rain to hit the city in a 14-hour period since records began in 1951, Xinhua said.
The death toll was expected to rise with media reports Sunday saying numerous people, including rescue workers, were missing. The government flood control headquarters told AFP that damage assessments were ongoing.
Photos of showed entire parking lots flooded by the rain, while rescue and traffic workers were seen diving underwater to unclog roadside drains as helpless drivers looked on from partially submerged cars.
Numerous roads in the capital were submerged under up to a metre of water, while 500 outbound flights were cancelled and at least 80,000 passengers stranded.
On Sunday, clean-up crews were out repairing damage under largely sunny skies, while workers scrambled to drain up to one million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of water from the sewer system.
Despite the damage, the rain was largely welcomed in drought-prone northern China which has suffered from a lack of rain over the last decade.
More torrential rain was forecast in China’s northeast and southwest, after at least 10 other people were killed since Friday.
In the northern province of Shanxi province, four people died and one remained missing after their pick-up truck was swept into a river as they attempted to cross a bridge, Xinhua said.
Landslides in southwestern Sichuan province resulted in six deaths, provincial flood control and drought relief officials told the agency.