Heaviest rain in 60 years leaves 37 dead in Beijing
AFP - July 22, 2012 11:25PM
[embedded video]
THE death toll from the heaviest rain to hit Beijing in over 60 years has risen to 37.
Xinhua news agency said more victims of the downpours which battered much of the capital throughout Saturday had been discovered, revising up considerably the number of dead from ten.
The rainstorms led to the evacuation of more than 50,000 people from their homes in Beijing, mostly from the city's outlying mountainous districts, as up to 46 centimetres of rain lashed some areas, the agency added.
Xinhua quoted the Beijing municipal government as saying 25 of the victims had drowned, six had died when their houses collapsed, one was killed by a lightning strike and five had been electrocuted.
Twenty-two of the bodies have been identified, it added.
The agency had earlier reported the death toll at 10 but said it was expected to rise as numerous people, including rescue workers, were missing.
The government flood control headquarters said damage assessments were ongoing.
Three bodies were recovered in Beijing's mountainous Fangshan region where several landslides were reported, China National Radio reported.
Up to 46 centimetres of rain fell in Fangshan district, the most rain to hit the city in a 14-hour period since records began in 1951, Xinhua said.
Photos showed entire parking lots flooded, while rescue and traffic workers were seen diving underwater to unclog roadside drains as helpless drivers looked on from partially submerged cars.
Numerous roads in the capital were submerged under up to a metre of water, while 500 outbound flights were cancelled and at least 80,000 passengers stranded.
On Sunday, clean-up crews were out repairing damage under largely sunny skies, while workers scrambled to drain up to one million cubic metres of water from the sewer system.
Despite the damage, the rain was largely welcomed in drought-prone northern China which has suffered from a lack of rain over the last decade.
More torrential rain was forecast in China's northeast and southwest, after at least 10 other people were killed since Friday.
In the northern province of Shanxi province, four people died and one remained missing after their pick-up truck was swept into a river as they attempted to cross a bridge, Xinhua said.
Landslides in southwestern Sichuan province resulted in six deaths, provincial flood control and drought relief officials told the agency.
Typhoon Vicente struck Hong Kong overnight, leaving people injured from flying debris and hundreds of flights cancelled
Associated Press in Hong Kong - guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 July 2012 05.35 BST
Planes parked on the tarmac as heavy rain falls on the airport in Hong Kong with the arrival of Typhoon Vicente early on Tuesday. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP
A powerful typhoon slammed the Chinese territory of Hong Kong .. http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/hongkong .. on Tuesday, injuring dozens, disrupting communications and bringing business to a standstill in one of the world's leading financial centres.
Typhoon Vincente made landfall at 4am (8pm GMT Monday), after the Hong Kong Observatory issued its No 10 hurricane signal, its highest, for the first time since 1999.
By early morning, wind speeds that had reached around 140kph (88mph) had slowed to 59kph (37mph), and the observatory lowered its signal, though still warning the territory's residents of strong gales.
The government said 118 people had been injured during the night, including 52 admitted to hospitals. Flying debris struck several people in the central business district and subway stations around the territory were converted into temporary shelters to accommodate dozens of stranded passengers.
At daybreak, the normally bustling Central district resembled a ghost town, with the stock market and major banks closed and businesses shuttered.
Dozens of flights at Hong Kong airport were cancelled or delayed, and ferry services linking Hong Kong island with Kowloon, the New Territories and outlying islands were suspended.
Throughout the morning, cleanup crews struggled to remove fallen trees and branches from major roadways. Some flooding was reported in the New Territories.
After hitting Hong Kong, Vincente headed into China's .. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china .. Guangdong province. The official Xinhua News Agency said nine flights were cancelled at Zhuhai Airport on Monday evening, with heavy rain falling in the region. Train services in the region were rescheduled because of the storm.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
