This Friday, according to the Chinese authorities, 147 people died or disappeared in July in China after the natural disasters and the heavy rains which hit the region of Beijing. In addition, the Ministry of Emergency Management also mentioned “703,000 people relocated in emergency”.
Chinese authorities announced on Friday that natural disasters had left 147 people dead or missing in July in the country, hit by historic heavy rains in the Beijing region. “147 people were killed or disappeared due to disasters,” said the Ministry of Emergency Management, which also mentions “703,000 people relocated in emergency” with more than 2,300 homes destroyed and economic losses estimated at 15.8. billion yuan ($2.2 billion).
The heaviest rains for 140 years
Entire areas of northern China were still immersed in early August under brownish waters carrying tons of waste, after the rains of historic magnitude that hit for days in Beijing and its surroundings, in the wake of storm Doksuri. Typhoon Doksuri, downgraded to a storm, had swept through China after hitting the neighboring Philippines. The Beijing Meteorological Service announced on Wednesday that the rains hitting the Chinese capital in recent days had been the heaviest since records began 140 years ago.
Dramatic aerial photos of the city of Zhuozhou, taken by AFP, showed shopping streets transformed into rivers of brown water. It fell on Beijing and its region in 40 hours the equivalent of the average rainfall for a whole month of July. Authorities in the capital lifted the red flood alert on Wednesday morning. Millions of people have been hit in recent weeks around the world by extreme weather events and heat waves. Events which, according to scientists, are exacerbated by climate change.