At least 30 killed and 80,000 evacuated in China as streets turn to rivers
At least 30 people have been killed and 80,000 evacuated following heavy rain and flooding which has hit China.
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Intense rainstorms have battered much of northern China in recent days including Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong.
As of midnight Monday, "the latest round of heavy rainstorms has left 30 people dead in Beijing", state news agency Xinhua said, citing the city's municipal flood control headquarters.
A statement from the Beijing city government said 28 people had died in Miyun district and two had been killed in Yanqing district as of midnight on Monday.
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More than 80,000 people have been relocated in the Chinese capital, including around 17,000 in Miyun, the city government's statement said.
It comes amid reports on Monday saying four people had been killed in a landslide in a rural part of Luanping county in Beijing's neighbouring Hebei province.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered "all-out" search and rescue efforts late on Monday to minimise casualties.
The recent floods have resulted in "significant casualties and property losses" in Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong, he said, according to Xinhua.
At 8pm local time (1pm UK time) on Monday, Beijing authorities launched a top-level emergency response, ordering people to stay inside, as well as closing schools, suspending construction work and stopping outdoor tourism and other activities until the response is lifted.
The storms in the region have also knocked out power in more than 130 villages in the Beijing area and wrecked more than 30 sections of road.
China is set to be hit with even more heavy rain today, with rainfall of up to 30cm (12 inches) forecast for some areas.
More than 16cm (6 inches) of rain had fallen on average by Tuesday, with two towns in Miyun recording 54cm (21 inches) of rainfall, the city's government said.
The government has allocated 350 million yuan (USD$49 million) for disaster relief in nine regions hit by heavy rains including Tianjin and Hebei, state broadcaster CCTV said.
A separate 200 million yuan has been set aside for the capital, the broadcaster said.
Footage on social media has shown brown floodwater making its way through residential communities, washing away cars and turning streets into rivers in Miyun.
A woman from a small town in Miyun wrote on Xiaohongshu, widely referred to as China’s Instagram, that she spent Monday night filled with "a pervasive sense of fear," as floodwaters caused carnage.