China releases US$77 million relief fund as casualties mount in Beijing floods
At least 40 dead as flooding and landslides hit the capital and neighbouring provinces of Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong
China has allocated millions in emergency funds to regions devastated by heavy downpours and floods that claimed at least 40 lives in Beijing and its neighbouring provinces.
A total of 550 million yuan (US$76.7 million) has been allocated by the central government to flood-hit regions for disaster relief, with 200 million yuan directed to Beijing’s response to the floods.
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‘A big storm unseen in a century’: heavy rainfall in Beijing kills at least 30
The torrential rains led to 30 deaths in Beijing as of Monday, according to state media reports on Tuesday. Chinese leaders called for all-out efforts in disaster relief after “heavy casualties” in the city and other parts of the country.
July and August are the rainy season in China, and the wet weather has hit Beijing, the neighbouring province of Hebei, the northeastern province of Liaoning and the eastern coastal province of Shandong, causing “heavy casualties and property losses”, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday night.
Videos of flooding and landslides, as well as rescue efforts, have been circulating on social media. Many of the online posts show houses submerged and destroyed, with debris embedded in the mud-choked ground or drifting in floodwaters.
One online commenter, calling herself Nanxi, described her evacuation on Sunday from Miyun – the mountainous district northeast of Beijing that was worst affected – as “not an escape room game, but a real-life ordeal”.