Devendra Kumar
Torrential rains have brought widespread destruction to western China, claiming at least two lives after a mudslide struck the outskirts of Xi’an, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The agency reported that rescuers are currently searching for 16 missing individuals following the incident in the village of Luanzhen, which also damaged roads, bridges, and power supplies. The region has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall this summer, while other areas are struggling with severe drought that is impacting crop yields.
In northern China’s Hebei province, residents were evacuated from Zhuozhou, a city located about 40 miles southwest of Beijing. The residents, including women carrying their pets, were taken to safer areas as heavy rains battered the region. The city of Shenyang, the largest in China’s northeast, and surrounding Liaoning province saw some train services suspended on Saturday evening due to the heavy rain caused by the remnants of Typhoon Khanun, which previously hit Japan.
Khanun weakened over the Korean Peninsula before reaching China, bringing heavy rain to the north-eastern city of Shulan in Jilin province. The city’s 23,000 residents were evacuated, although no deaths or injuries have been reported. The total number of people killed by flooding, landslides, and mountain torrents in July stands at 142, according to the ministry of emergency management.
The capital, Beijing, and Hebei province suffered their heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years, with the Hebei government reporting at least 29 deaths in floods caused by Typhoon Doksuri. The official death toll from floods in Beijing rose to 33 this week. The government has cautioned that it may take up to three years for power and other essential services to be fully restored. As the rain continues to batter parts of China, authorities are working to rescue those affected and restore critical infrastructure.