China's capital Beijing experiences heaviest rain in 140 years

According to AP, heavy rains from super typhoon Doksuri caused landslides, floods swept away cars, and destroyed roads in Beijing and neighboring provinces.

Typhoon Doksuri swept across northern China after making landfall in the southern province of Fujian. Heavy rains began hitting Beijing and surrounding areas on July 29, with 40 hours of rainfall nearly equal to the average for the entire month of July.

The Beijing Meteorological Bureau announced that the city recorded 744.8 mm of rainfall from July 30 to August 1, the heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years. This is considered an extreme and rare event for Beijing.

Floods sweep away cars in China. Photo: SMH

A video broadcast by CCTV showed a road bridge in Beijing broken in half with a long line of cars on top while many vehicles were swept away by the river below.

Other video footage also shows a sinkhole appearing outside a shopping mall in western Beijing and water pouring down at Daxing Airport.

Many images posted also showed rescue workers and residents wading through waist-deep water as they tried to escape the rising waters.

The severity of the flooding has surprised many Chinese, who typically enjoy dry summers in Beijing. Before the storm, Beijing had been experiencing five record-breaking heat waves.

On August 1, CCTV reported that the storms last weekend killed at least 11 people in Beijing and left 13 missing.

In neighboring Hebei province, more than 800,000 people were evacuated, nine people were killed and six were missing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts to provide relief to people in affected areas.

Climate change is making China and many other places in the world face extreme weather events. After Doksuri, China continues to be on guard against Khanun, the sixth storm since the beginning of the year.

Minh Hoa (reported by Dan Tri and Giao Thong)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/thu-do-bac-kinh-cua-trung-quoc-hung-dot-mua-lon-nhat-140-nam-a620027.html