BEIJING: City officials admitted on Thursday they were unprepared for the heavy rains that flooded parts of Beijing, killing 44 people and leaving nine missing.
Northern China has faced deadly rainfall since last week, forcing mass evacuations.
The hardest-hit areas were Beijing’s rural suburbs, where the death toll rose from the previously reported 30.
Xia Linmao, a senior city official, confirmed the updated figures, stating, “As of midday on July 31, some 44 people have died and nine are still missing as a result of the disasters across the whole of Beijing.”
The extreme rainfall between July 23 and 29 caused “significant casualties and losses,“ Xia said.
Among the fatalities, 31 occurred at an elderly care centre in Taishitun.
Some missing individuals include local officials involved in rescue operations.
Xia expressed condolences, vowing to “learn profound lessons” from the tragedy.
He acknowledged failures in weather forecasting and disaster prevention, stating, “Our ability to forecast and warn of extreme weather is insufficient.”
Infrastructure shortcomings in mountainous regions worsened the impact.
Yu Weiguo, a Communist Party leader in the severely affected Miyun district, admitted gaps in preparedness.
“This tragic lesson has warned us that putting the people first is more than a slogan,“ he said.
The floods submerged homes, cut power, and closed roads across Beijing and nearby provinces.
Villagers described unprecedented devastation, with one resident in Huairou saying, “I’ve never seen this before in all my 40 years.”
China, the world’s top greenhouse gas emitter, faces increasing extreme weather linked to climate change.
Despite its renewable energy efforts, the country struggles with disaster resilience. – AFP
