Relief efforts intensified as rain death toll mounts

Torrential rainfall in Beijing and its neighboring areas since last week resulted in more than 60 deaths, including 31 residents of an elderly care center in the capital's Miyun district, while over 30 were missing as of Thursday, according to local authorities.

Intensive relief efforts are underway in affected districts of Beijing and Tianjin and in Hebei province, with the maximum focus on repairing damaged infrastructure, strengthening flood defenses and enhancing disaster preparedness.

Flash floods triggered by the Qingshui River early on Monday sent water gushing into Taishitun town in Miyun, trapping residents and attendants at the elderly care center, according to officials who held a news briefing on Thursday.

The water in the river surged, reaching a maximum flow rate of 2,800 cubic meters per second, which was 1,500 times the usual flow rate. As the level of floodwaters quickly rose, rescue teams couldn't access the elderly care facility until late morning on Monday.

Of the 69 residents and eight staff members trapped inside, multiple fatalities were later confirmed, said Yu Weiguo, Party secretary of Miyun.

While more than 16,000 people from 205 high-risk villages were promptly evacuated in response to weather alerts, the area where the elderly care center is located was considered safe and not included in the evacuation plan, Yu said at the briefing.

"This shows there were gaps in our preparedness," he said. "These elderly people were around the same age as my parents. We are very saddened and deeply grieved."

Yu added that disaster response will be further strengthened in the future, especially in cases involving vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, and individuals with disabilities.

Officials and attendees at the news conference observed a moment of silence to mourn the flood victims.

Over 300,000 people have been affected and more than 24,000 homes damaged in Beijing since heavy rains started on July 23, with Miyun, Yanqing, Huairou and Pinggu districts among the hardest hit. The death toll in the city reached 44, while nine people were missing as of Thursday.

Xia Linmao, executive vice-mayor of Beijing, said at the news conference that more than 104,000 people were evacuated and over 5,400 who were trapped or missing rescued.

Military and emergency response forces were swiftly mobilized under a joint central-local coordination mechanism, he said, adding that more than 6,000 soldiers and firefighters, as well as personnel from State-owned enterprises, were deployed alongside heavy machinery to assist in rescue and relief efforts.

Authorities have prioritized the safety of key infrastructure, ramping up inspections of dams and river embankments.

In Miyun, police have been stationed at both ends of 64 bridges along the Miyun Reservoir's discharge channel. Controlled water discharge from the reservoir continued on Thursday, with real-time monitoring and adjustments made to manage upstream inflows and protect downstream communities.

Rescue operations are underway, while officials are assessing further risks and strengthening flood defenses, Xia said.

"This disaster has caused many casualties and heavy losses, and we feel deep sorrow and a strong sense of responsibility," he said, adding that authorities will learn from the experience and improve disaster prevention, mitigation and relief efforts to better protect the people. "We must speed up repairing damaged houses to ensure people can return home soon."

Beijing is also accelerating the restoration of damaged roads, power and water supplies, and communication infrastructure, aiming to complete all work by Saturday, Xia said.

Of the 424 rural roads cut off due to the rains, 364 have been reopened. "We aim to restore all main roads by Thursday. All affected villages now have emergency water supplies," he added.

To prevent secondary disasters, Beijing plans to conduct thorough inspections of affected mountainous areas and other critical sites. The environmental clean-up will be strengthened to prevent outbreaks of diseases in the aftermath of the floods.

In neighboring Hebei province, which was also hit by severe downpours, flash floods and landslides, resulting in 18 deaths and 24 people unaccounted for as of Thursday, all-out relief and rescue efforts are underway.

Across Hebei, 406 blocked road sections have been cleared to facilitate rescue and relief operations. In places that were hardest hit, such as Xinglong county in Chengde, roads to affected villages were reopened by Thursday, as emergency responders cleared debris overnight.

In Luanping county, also in Chengde, all four bridges leading to landslide-hit Nantaizi Xigou village were repaired and reopened by Wednesday night. Additionally, all telecom services within 3 kilometers of Liudaogou village in Xinglong were resumed.