Heavy rains and flooding kill at least 34 people in and near Beijing
[July 29, 2025]
By KEN MORITSUGU and MAHESH KUMAR
TAISHITUN, China (AP) — Heavy rains and flooding killed 30 people in
Beijing, authorities in the Chinese capital reported on Tuesday,
bringing the death toll from the storms in the region to at least 34.
A city government statement said that 28 people had died in its hard-hit
Miyun district and two others in Yanqing district as of midnight. Both
are outlying parts of the sprawling city, far from the downtown.
More heavy rain fell overnight in the area. More than 80,000 people have
been relocated in Beijing, including about 17,000 in Miyun, the
statement said.
Reports on Monday said a landslide had killed four people in a rural
part of Luanping county in neighboring Hebei province. Eight others were
missing. A resident told the state-backed Beijing News that
communications were down and he couldn't reach his relatives.
The storms had dropped more than 16 centimeters (6 inches) of rain on
average in Beijing by midnight Tuesday, with two towns in Miyun
recording 54 centimeters (21 inches) of precipitation, the city said.
Authorities in Miyun released water from a reservoir that was at its
highest level since it was built in 1959. Authorities warned people to
stay away from rivers downstream as their levels rose and as more heavy
rain was forecast.
China’s Premier Li Qiang said Monday that the heavy rain and flooding in
Miyun caused “serious casualties,” and called for rescue efforts,
according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.
The storm knocked out power in more than 130 villages in Beijing,
destroyed communication lines and damaged more than 30 sections of road.
Heavy flooding washed away cars and downed power poles in Miyun, which
borders Hebei’s Luanping county.
Uprooted trees lay in piles with their bare roots exposed in the town of
Taishitun, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of central Beijing.
Streets were covered with water, with mud left higher up on the walls of
buildings.
“The flood came rushing in, just like that, so fast and suddenly. In no
time at all, the place was filling up,” said Zhuang Zhelin, who was
clearing mud with his family from their building materials shop.
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Local residents walks in front of a damaged road littered with
broken tree branches after a heavy rains in Taishitun Town, Miyun
district on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Monday, July 28, 2025.
(AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Next door, Zhuang’s neighbor Wei Zhengming, a traditional Chinese
medicine practitioner, was shoveling mud in his clinic; his feet in
slippers were covered in mud.
“It was all water, front and back. I didn’t want to do anything. I
just ran upstairs and waited for rescue. I remember thinking, if no
one came to get us, we’d be in real trouble,” said Wei.
Beijing authorities launched a top-level emergency response at 8
p.m. Monday, ordering people to stay inside, closing schools,
suspending construction work and stopping outdoor tourism and other
activities until the response is lifted.
The heaviest rain in Beijing was expected early Tuesday, with
rainfall of up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) forecast for some
areas.
Another 10,000 people were evacuated from the nearby Jizhou district
under the city of Tianjin, Xinhua reported.
The central government said in a statement it had sent 50 million
yuan (about $7 million) to Hebei and dispatched a high-level team of
emergency responders to help the affected cities, which include
Chengde, Baoding and Zhangjiakou.
Beijing and Hebei suffered severe flooding in 2023.
___
Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press video producer
Olivia Zhang in Taishitun, China, and writers Huizhong Wu in Bangkok
and Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this report.
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