Topan Doksuri Causes Extreme Rain: Beijing Submerged By Floods, Two People Died

JAKARTA - Floods due to extreme rains since the weekend hit Beijing, China, left two people dead and hundreds more trapped, although tens of thousands more have been evacuated from their homes.

Hundreds of roads have been flooded in the Chinese capital, with videos posted by state media showing half-watered vehicles in the Mentougou District, being swept away by heavy currents due to remnants of Topan Doksuri that caused high rainfall in the city of nearly 22 million people.

Two bodies were found in a river during an emergency patrol in Mentouguu, as rescue teams pulled hundreds of people to safer places in other parts of the city.

Apart from Beijing, heavy rains continued to flush Tianjin and Hebei Province after the typhoon, which was lowered to tropical depression at the end of last week.

Not only that, three of the five rivers that formed the Hai River basin rose to a dangerous level on Monday. Several houses were swept away into the Yongding River and nearly 55,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Baoding City, according to state media.

Topan Doksuri is one of the strongest storms to hit China in recent years, causing widespread flooding over the weekend in Fujian Province that displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Beijing's average rainfall reaches 176.9 mm (7 inches) between Saturday night and Monday afternoon, with the maximum rainfall recorded at the Mentougou weather station reaching 580.9 mm (23 inches), according to state media.

Beijing's Observatory continues to impose red warnings - the highest warning - for heavy rainfall, while Beijing's Hidrological Station increases its flood warnings with more rain and river flood forecasts.

Meanwhile, the relentless rainfall over the weekend until Monday morning has broken record daily rainfall at 14 weather stations in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces.

A total of 358 roads in Beijing were hit by rain on Monday. More than 31,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Beijing, work at more than 4,000 construction sites were halted, nearly 20,000 buildings were inspected for damage, as well as tourist attractions in the city closed, according to media reports.

In addition, both airports in the capital canceled more than 200 flights on Monday afternoon, with nearly 600 flights delayed, according to the Flight Master flight tracking app.

In northern Hebei Province, a driver disappeared after two trucks fell off a collapsed bridge in Baoding City on Sunday, while a railroad bridge for freight transport in Shijiazhuang City was swept away in a swollen river, media reported.

Although Topan Doksuri continues to subside, weather forecasters have warned Topan Khanun is getting closer and will hit China's densely populated coast this week.

Authorities say that Khanun could cause further damage to the corn and other plants that Doksuri has hit.