China: Floods have killed 30 people and forced more than 80,000 evacuations in Beijing

Torrential rains are hitting northern China this week, killing 30 people and forcing more than 80,000 evacuations in Beijing, state media reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, China's meteorological agency issued its second-highest rainfall alert for the Chinese capital, on a scale of four, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Also affected are the bordering regions of Hebei and Tianjin, as well as ten provinces in northern, eastern, and southern China. Heavy rains are expected there until Wednesday, according to the same source.

In Beijing, "the latest round of violent storms has left 30 people dead (...) as of Monday midnight," Xinhua wrote, citing the municipal flood control center. "A total of 80,332 people have been displaced" due to the bad weather, the local newspaper Beijing Daily, an official media outlet, reported on the WeChat platform. The Miyun district, in northeast Beijing, recorded the most damage.

"The rain was exceptionally heavy this time; it's not like this normally," said a district resident named Jiang. "The road is full of water, so people can't go to work," she explained, pointing to the road in front of her house, which was submerged in a torrent of water.

Power lines were swept away by the muddy torrents. Firefighters also rescued 48 people trapped in an elderly care center, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The northern districts of Huairou and the southwest districts of Fangshan were also particularly hard hit, according to state media. The Beijing Daily newspaper also reported dozens of roads closed and more than 130 surrounding villages without power.

"Please pay attention to weather forecasts and warnings and do not travel to high-risk areas unless absolutely necessary," the post said. Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities Monday evening to speed up the process of sheltering residents in areas at risk of flooding.

The government has allocated 350 million yuan (42 million euros) for relief operations in nine regions hit by heavy rainfall, CCTV announced Tuesday. A separate 200 million yuan (24 million euros) has been earmarked for Beijing alone, according to state television.

In Hebei province, which surrounds the capital, a landslide in a village killed four people and left eight missing on Monday, according to CCTV. Local authorities issued a flash flood warning, effective until Tuesday evening. Chengde , the regional capital , and its surrounding areas are under the highest alert level.

Natural disasters are common in China, especially during the summer, when some regions are submerged by torrential rains while others are plagued by intense heatwaves. China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say are accelerating climate change and making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.