The heavy rains that hit northern China in recent days have resulted in one of the country’s most serious climate tragedies in recent memory. The growing number of victims highlights the intensity of these meteorological events and the vulnerability of various regions. The most critical situation was recorded in Beijing and neighboring areas, where floods and landslides caused dozens of deaths and destroyed important infrastructure.
Beijing tragedy exposes failures in disaster preparedness
Extreme rains and flooding across northern China have killed 60 people, more than half of them at a care home for the elderly in a suburb of Beijing, which has grappled with its deadliest flood disaster in years. In Beijing, 44 people died over the past week, the city’s deputy mayor Xia Linmao said at a press conference on Thursday.
Torrential rains began a week ago and peaked around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday. In the space of a few days the hilly Miyun district in the northeast of the capital saw rainfall of up to 573.5 mm (22.6 inches). By comparison, the average annual precipitation in Beijing is around 600 mm. Thirty-one people died at a nursing home in Miyun’s Taishitun, a town sitting immediately upstream from the Miyun reservoir and about a 90-minute drive from central Beijing.
Authorities were alerted about people trapped in the facility early on Monday, but rescue efforts were hampered by torrents of water in the streets, said Miyun’s top official, Yu Weiguo.
“The town centre where the nursing home was located had been safe for a long time, and was not included in the relocation plan,” Yu said during the press conference on Thursday. “This showed that our contingency plan had flaws, and our understanding of extreme weather was inadequate,” said Yu, who was teary-eyed and wore black to the briefing.
Water volume breaks records and surprises authorities
The intensity of the flow and speed of the water level rise caught authorities by surprise, rendering rapid response mechanisms ineffective. The magnitude of the disaster also highlighted the need to review warning and evacuation systems near reservoirs and rivers.
The Miyun reservoir, the largest in China’s north, saw record-breaking water levels during the rains, which devastated nearby towns. The Qingshui River, which runs through Taishitun feeding into the reservoir and is normally a small stream, was flowing at 1,500 times its normal volume on Monday morning when the disaster struck, Yu said.
Structural impact and number of homeless people
In addition to the fatalities, the material damage left thousands homeless and disrupted essential services in large urban and rural areas. Full infrastructure recovery could take months, especially in more remote districts. Economic losses are still being calculated to rebuild bridges, homes, and roads destroyed by the force of the floodwaters.
In total, more than 300,000 people have been affected by the rain and flooding in Beijing, with more than 24,000 homes, 242 bridges and 756 km (470 miles) of roads damaged, deputy mayor Xia said, citing preliminary figures.
Nearby regions also suffer from deaths and missing people.
In the nearby province of Hebei, 16 people died as a result of the intense rainfall. At least eight were killed in the city of Chengde just outside Beijing, with 18 unaccounted for. The deaths occurred in villages within the Xinglong area of Chengde in Hebei province, state-run Xinhua reported late on Wednesday. It cited local authorities but did not specify when or how the people died.
Events in northern China reinforce the urgency of rethinking disaster prevention and response policies nationwide. The tragedy, which affected thousands of families, especially in Beijing and Hebei, should not be seen as isolated, but as a reflection of ongoing climate change.