Mass Evacuations in Beijing as Typhoon Dolphin Triggers Heavy Flooding

Beijing (GNP): Thousands of people have been evacuated from flood- and landslide-prone areas in Beijing as the remnants of Typhoon Dolphin continue to bring torrential rain to northern and central China. Forecasters warned that the Chinese capital could receive more than 150mm of rain within 24 hours, with some districts expected to exceed 200mm, a figure representing more than one-third of the city’s average annual rainfall of 528mm.

Beijing remained under an orange rainstorm warning, the second-highest level on the country’s alert scale, with the heaviest downpours expected through the morning.

Authorities in the capital closed hundreds of tourist attractions and campsites as a precaution, with more than 1,300 visitors evacuated or turned away from affected sites. Separately, over 5,000 elderly residents were relocated from care facilities, while around 1,800 people living near construction projects in mountainous or riverside areas were moved to safer locations. The disruption extended into the city’s morning commute, with 250 bus routes suspended and trains running at reduced speeds across ten metro lines.

Dolphin, the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year, has weakened considerably since making landfall in the eastern province of Zhejiang on Sunday, but its remnants have continued to draw large volumes of tropical moisture inland, drenching central and northern regions of the country in the days since.

Neighbouring Hebei province has also been placed on alert for mountain floods, landslides and other geological hazards, with authorities dispatching 623 emergency response teams to mountainous areas. More than 2,100 at-risk villages in the province have been equipped with satellite phones or satellite messaging terminals to maintain communication in the event local networks fail.

Also Read: Typhoon Dolphin Floods Central China, Beijing on Alert

In the central province of Henan, authorities raised the torrential rain warning to the highest-level red alert on Wednesday morning as downpours continued to batter large parts of the province.

Forecasters expect further heavy rain through Thursday morning, with 24-hour rainfall totals reaching as high as 350mm in some areas. Classes, business operations and non-essential outdoor activities have been suspended across the affected regions, and residents have been urged to avoid deep floodwaters and to evacuate immediately if their vehicles become stalled in rising water.

Rainfall records have already been broken elsewhere in central China as a result of the storm. The city of Wugang in Henan recorded 209.5mm of rain in a single day, while Xiangyang in neighbouring Hubei province registered 169.1mm, marking the highest single-day rainfall totals recorded in either location for the month of August.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, continues to face increasingly destructive weather events that scientists have linked to climate change, with this year proving particularly severe due to the influence of the El Niño weather pattern, which has driven up temperatures and fuelled more frequent and intense typhoons across the region.