BEIJING: At least 10 more people were killed in floods in a city near Beijing, officials said on Saturday, bringing the death toll from the torrential rains in northern China to 30.

Officials reported the deaths in Baoding, about 150km from Beijing, adding that 18 people were still missing.

Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon that hit mainland China over a week ago, has brought the most severe rains to the region since records began 140 years ago.

Clean-up operations are ongoing after the overwhelming rainfall, which destroyed infrastructure and flooded entire districts.

Natural disasters caused 147 deaths or disappearances in July, China said on Friday, after the heaviest rains since records began hit the country’s capital.

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said 142 of the deaths or disappearances recorded in July this year were caused by flooding or geological disasters.

Streets became rivers

Dramatic aerial photos taken by AFP of Zhuozhou taken earlier this week showed shopping streets turned into rivers of brown water, while others showed farmland in the surrounding areas completely submerged and floodwater stretching for miles. Resc­uers used boats to ferry instant noodles, bread and drinking water to residents who could not or did not want to leave properties engulfed by water.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2023