Deadly rain, landslides force mass evacuations in northern China

Heavy rain has killed at least 30 people and forced authorities to evacuate tens of thousands after swaths of northern China were lashed by torrential downpours that prompted landslides, according to state media.

Weather authorities have issued their second-highest rainstorm warning for the capital Beijing, neighbouring Hebei and Tianjin, as well as 10 other provinces in northern, eastern and southern China, state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday.

The rains are expected to last into Wednesday, it added.

As of midnight on Monday, “the latest round of heavy rainstorms has left 30 people dead in Beijing,” Xinhua said, citing the city’s municipal flood control headquarters.

More than 80,000 people have been evacuated in the Chinese capital alone, local state-run outlet Beijing Daily said on social media.

The death toll was highest in Miyun, a suburban district northeast of the city centre, it said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities late on Monday to plan for worst-case scenarios and rush the relocation of residents of flood-threatened areas.

Beijing Daily said local officials had “made all-out efforts to search and rescue missing persons … and made every effort to reduce casualties”.

The government has allocated 350 million yuan ($48m) for disaster relief in nine regions hit by heavy rains, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.

They include northern Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, northeastern Jilin, eastern Shandong and southern Guangdong.

A separate 200 million yuan ($27m) has been set aside for the capital, the broadcaster said.