China’s north still on alert for floods with threat of more bad weather to come

Emergency workers are gradually restoring power, water and transport links to flood-hit communities in northern China but authorities warn that there may be more bad weather to come.

Since making landfall last week, Tropical Storm Doksuri has brought record-breaking amounts of rain to Beijing and the neighbouring province of Hebei, with 20 deaths reported in the two areas.

Heavy rain and high water levels on rivers in northeastern China were threatening cities downstream on Friday, prompting the evacuation of thousands, although the country appears to have averted the worst effects of the typhoon season battering parts of east Asia.

Hebei province surrounding the capital Beijing on three sides issued alerts for several of its cities. The province of Heilongjiang to the north, was evacuating entire villages in anticipation of life-threatening deluges.

Rescue work remains underway. At least 20 people have been reported killed in Beijing’s outer suburbs and another 27 were missing following the weekend storms that quickly overwhelmed drainage systems.

 As of Wednesday, North China’s Hebei province has detained about 1.8 billion cubic meters of floodwater after it put into use seven flood detention areas in the past few days, according to the emergency management department of Hebei province.

To prevent flooding disasters in flood-prone areas, more than 850,000 residents surrounding the detention reservoirs including Xiaoqing River, Langouwa and Dongdian, have been relocated to safe areas, the department said, adding that another 370,000 people have also been evacuated from other regions.