Beijing rains heaviest in 140 years
Deadly rains that pummelled China's capital in recent days were the heaviest since records began 140 years ago, Beijing's weather service said on Wednesday, as a massive cleanup operation began. Millions of people have been hit by extreme weather events and prolonged heat waves around the globe in recent weeks – events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change. And the Beijing Meteorological Service said the capital has just experienced the "heaviest rainfall in 140 years", when city authorities started keeping records. "The maximum [amount] of rainfall recorded during this storm, which was 744.8 millimetres, occurred at the Wangjiayuan Reservoir in Changping," the service said, adding the largest volume previously recorded was 609 millimetres in 1891. The epicentre of flooding shifted to neighbouring Hebei province on Wednesday. In Beijing's Fangshan district – on the border between the capital and Hebei – reporters from AFP news agency saw a park that had been completely flooded, with tonnes of rubbish that had been washed away by torrential rains stuck near a bridge. State media footage showed rescuers rowing inflatable rafts through waterlogged neighbourhoods, while locals clung to construction scaffolding awaiting help. Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, swept northwards over China after hitting southern Fujian province last week, following its battering of the Philippines. Heavy rains began pounding the typically dry capital and surrounding areas on Saturday. The amount recorded in just 40 hours neared the average rainfall for the entire month of July. With rainfall easing, the focus has moved to the relief operation, with hundreds of rescue workers from the Chinese Red Cross being sent to hard-hit areas to clean up debris and help evacuate victims, Xinhua news agency reported. President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for "every effort" to rescue those "lost or trapped" by the storm. The country is now on alert for the arrival of Typhoon Khanun, the sixth such storm of the year, as it nears the east coast. (AFP)