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Heavy rain and high water levels on rivers in northeastern China were threatening cities downstream on Friday, prompting the evacuation of thousands, although the country appears to have averted the worst effects of the typhoon season battering parts of east Asia. Hebei province surrounding the capital Beijing on three sides issued alerts for several of its cities.
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Residents being evacuated by rubber boats through flood waters in Zhuozhou in northern China’s Hebei province, south of Beijing. China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days. The province of Heilongjiang to the north, was evacuating entire villages in anticipation of life-threatening deluges. Rescue work remains underway. (AP Photo)
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Trapped residents being rescued by boat in the flood-hit Fangshan district on the outskirts of Beijing on Wednesday. At least 20 people have been reported killed in Beijing’s outer suburbs and another 27 were missing following the weekend storms that quickly overwhelmed drainage systems. (AP Photo)
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Rescuers using rubber boats evacuate trapped residents through flood waters in Zhuozhou, south of Beijing. Beijing usually has dry summers, but had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year that broke dramatically over the weekend with almost a week of constant rain and drizzle. Power was knocked out in areas, public transport and summer classes were suspended and citizens of the metropolis of more than 20 million were told to stay home. (AP Photo)
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The nearby cities of Tianjin and Zhuozhou were also hit hard. Fire services aided by volunteer rescue groups searched apartment buildings and railway tunnels for stranded people, bringing hundreds to safety. (AP Photo)
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China’s National Meteorological Center had initially expected the typhoon to make landfall in the southeastern Zhejiang province, where local authorities called ships into port and halted passenger ferry services. (AP Photo)
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Other regions, especially in China’s south, have suffered unusual deadly summer flooding. Other parts of the country are struggling with drought, putting further pressure on food supplies for the nation’s 1.4 billion people already struggling with the disruption in grain shipments. As much as 500 millimeters (almost 20 inches) of rain has fallen in some places since Saturday, according to the Hebei province weather agency. (AP Photo)
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About 42,000 people were evacuated from areas of Shanxi province to Hebei’s west, it reported, citing emergency officials.In early July, at least 15 people were killed by floods in the southwestern region of Chongqing, and about 5,590 people in the far northwestern province of Liaoning had to be evacuated. (AP Photo)
