Firefighters try to rescue bus passengers after a downpour in Beijing.
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A road in Beijing flooded by water after a downpour
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The heaviest rain in 61 years in the Chinese capital Beijing has left 10 people dead as of 2 a.m. Sunday, according to a report by the China Network Television, a national web-based TV broadcaster owned by the state-owned China Central Television.
Strong winds toppled rooftops in two villages in the city's suburban Tongzhou district, the Beijing Emergency Medical Center said.
The third person, also in Tongzhou, was killed after being struck by lightning. The fourth, head of a police station in suburban Fangshan district, died of electric shock from a fallen electric wire in waters while rescuing trapped villagers.
A driver was rushed to hospital in critical condition after being pulled out of her car, which had been submerged in deep water under the Guangqumen overpass.
Many passersby have joined the efforts to help drag more cars out of the flood waters.
In addition, more than 5,200 residents in several mountainous suburban districts have been relocated to safer places as authorities ordered to brace for potential landslides and flash floods.
Rescuers have reached 350 students and 40 teachers trapped at a military training site in Fangshan district by a flash flood. The students and teachers were in no immediate danger and the rescuers have brought them hot water and food. The rescue operation is ongoing.
A river in Fangshan overflowed its banks Saturday night, trapping more than 40 residents in a village.
Twenty have been rescued and efforts are ongoing.
The sudden rainstorm started thrashing the city around 10am on Saturday, July 20. The resultant flooding has cut off traffic on some roads inundated by water and also severely disrupted air traffic.
Authorities have dispatched 7,000 traffic police to the city's roads to help cope with traffic problems.
Many roads under overpasses were submerged by water of up to one meter deep, leaving some cars stranded. Many people were forced to take the subway that day to commute.
"That was by no means car driving. It looked very much like sailing a boat," recalled Beijing resident Yuan Xin, who drove back home in the rain Saturday. "There were waves all around," said Yuan. "I was very nervous inside the car and I was wondering what I would do if the car broke down."
Many pedestrians were seen treading in waist-level waters. While on a road near the Lishui bridge, many had to return home by walking through waist-deep water in a 10-square-meter "pond" on the road, uncertain of how deep the water was in front of them.
"I read on the microblog that a foreigner swam home. If the water does not recede soon, I'll swim across it too," a young man holding his leather shoes told Xinhua.
The popular Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging site, was flooded with photos showing the city under water. Many accused the city's poor drainage system as being inadequate for dealing with the sudden rains.
About 475 flights have been canceled and 80 others delayed, according to the Beijing Capital International Airport. The airport's operation had started to resume as the rain tapered off.
The metro line linking the airport with the downtown area resumed operations at 10:05pm after two and a half hours of suspended service due to a rain-triggered power failure. The line's service will be extended by one hour to midnight to carry stranded passengers, the metro line's operator said in a statement. A Free shuttle bus service is being offered.
According to statistics at 20 state-level climate observing stations in Beijing, the city received 212 mm of precipitation on average as of 2am, the largest since weather records began in 1951, said Guo Wenli, director of the climate center under the Beijing Meteorological Bureau. A township in the Fangshan district was hit by the largest amount of rainfall, totaling so far over 366 mm.
The agency issued its first orange rainstorm alert warning since 2005 on Saturday evening as the rain is forecast to last over 20 hours till Sunday morning. Chinese meteorological authorities use a four-tier color-coded weather warning system from "blue" and "yellow" to the more severe "orange" and "red".
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