BEIJING: At least 10 people were killed in floods in a city near Beijing, officials said on Saturday (Aug 5), bringing the death toll from recent torrential rains in northern China to at least 30.
Officials reported the deaths in Baoding, about 150km from Beijing, adding that 18 people were missing.
Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon that hit mainland China last Friday, has brought the most severe rains to the region since records began 140 years ago.
By noon on Saturday (4am GMT), more than 600,000 of Baoding’s 11.5 million residents had been evacuated from areas deemed to be at risk, officials said.
The torrential rain that hit northeast China on Saturday battered the provinces bordering Russia and North Korea.
A red alert remains in force in Beijing due to “geological risks” such as landslides linked to the bad weather.
Clean-up operations are ongoing after the overwhelming rainfall, which destroyed infrastructure and flooded entire districts.
China has been hit hard by extreme weather in recent months, from record-breaking heatwaves to deadly flooding.
Natural disasters caused 147 deaths or disappearances last month, China said on Friday, after the heaviest rains since records began hit the country’s capital.
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said that 142 of the deaths or disappearances recorded in July were caused by flooding or geological disasters.