BEIJING, Aug 4 – Beijing issued a citywide alert on Monday, warning residents across all districts to prepare for another round of heavy rainfall and urging them to stay indoors. The warning comes just a week after devastating floods claimed dozens of lives in the deadliest deluge to strike the Chinese capital since 2012.
Weather authorities forecast up to 200mm (7.9 inches) of rain could fall in some areas within a six-hour window starting at midday. For context, Beijing—home to 22 million people—typically receives around 600mm of rain annually.
The warning comes as authorities race to reinforce aging flood defenses, improve weather forecasting, and revise evacuation protocols, amid reports of bodies being recovered from floodwaters across the country—including at least three victims at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province.
In Beijing alone, at least 44 people lost their lives between July 23 and 29, after torrential rains triggered sudden and severe flooding. Most of the victims were residents of a nursing home in Miyun District, located on the city’s northeastern outskirts, who were caught off guard by the rapidly rising waters. The tragedy prompted officials to acknowledge gaps in their preparedness and emergency response plans for extreme weather events.
By noon on Monday, Beijing had placed all 16 of its districts on the highest level of emergency preparedness—the first citywide alert since July 28. Authorities ordered the closure of sections of the Great Wall and other outdoor recreational areas, and suspended operations of underground businesses as a precaution.
Officials warned that the risk of flash floods and landslides was “extremely high.”
Beijing experienced its deadliest flooding in recent memory in the summer of 2012, when 79 people lost their lives. Fangshan District was hit the hardest, with one resident recalling floodwaters rising by 1.3 meters in just 10 minutes.
The city’s unique topography has often been described as a rainfall “trap,” with mountains to the west and north capturing moist air masses and intensifying rainfall when storms strike.
Torrential Rains Claim Lives at Hebei Wellness Retreat Near Beijing
As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through “Beijing Valley,” a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde, adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four others still missing, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.
On July 27, around 40 people had gathered for an event at a campsite where organizers had directed them into tents pitched on low-lying ground beside a river bend, according to Caixin Media.
By 2 a.m. the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble toward the camp’s only exit in a desperate attempt to escape.
The site drew comparisons to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children lost their lives last month after the Guadalupe River overflowed during torrential rain, sweeping them away.
Meanwhile, in China’s southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered following a large-scale search operation involving more than 1,300 rescuers.
According to Xinhua, the five individuals, who went missing on Friday night, were “swept away by water” amid days of heavy rainfall.
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