70 Thousand Beijing Residents Evacuated Due To Hurricane Warning After Flood Kill 44 People
JAKARTA - Beijing evacuated more than 70,000 residents by Monday afternoon and warned other residents to prepare for the next heavy rainwave.
The storm warning came after a devastating flood killed dozens of people in the deadliest flash floods to hit the Chinese capital since 2012.
As reported by Reuters, up to 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rain could hit parts of Beijing for six hours from midday, according to weather forecasters.
The city of 22 million people receives an average of 600 mm of rainfall every year.
The warning comes as authorities rush to strengthen the aging flood embankment, perfect weather forecasts, and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from flash floods across the country, including at least three people at a health camp in Hebei province.
It was reported that 44 people died in Beijing after heavy rains from July 23 to 29.
Most of the dead were people who were suddenly trapped by the rapidly rising water at a nursing home in the Miyun district in the city's northeastern suburbs.
The deaths left authorities acknowledging a flaw in their contingency plans for extreme weather.
On Monday, August 4 afternoon, Beijing placed all 16 districts at its highest preparedness level, on first standby across the city since July 28, closing parts of the Great Wall and other outdoor recreation areas and halting underground business operations.
The risk of flash floods and landslides is "very high", authorities said.
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As of 14.00 local time, the capital has relocated more than 70,000 residents of nearly 14,000 of them from the hilly Mentouou district in the west of the city, state broadcaster reports.
In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flood ever recorded, with Fangshan district being the worst.
Beijing's topography is described by some as a "trap" of rain, with mountains in the west and north capturing humid air and consequently exacerbating the rainfall.