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A man and child cross a damaged bridge in northern China’s Hebei province. Photo: Reuters
ChinaPolitics

China floods: death toll rises to 29 in Hebei, and authorities warn damage could take years to fix

  • Northern province reports 16 still missing and 1.75 million relocated in wake of Typhoon Doksuri, which brought heavy rain and flooding
  • Provincial government says direct economic losses already exceed 95.8 billion yuan (US$13.4 billion)
Accidents, extreme weather and disasters in China
Yuanyue Dang
Yuanyue Dangin Beijing
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The death toll from Typhoon Doksuri and the devastating floods that followed has risen to 29 in the northern Chinese province of Hebei, with 16 people still missing and close to 4 million people affected, the provincial government said on Friday morning.

Reconstruction could take as long as two years, it added.

The new death toll is more than three times the number announced by the province on August 1 and includes six people who were missing at the time. Rescue efforts are still under way.

Zhang Chengzhong, Hebei’s vice-governor, said on Friday that 3.88 million people in the province had been affected by the floods and 1.75 million had been resettled from their homes.
Among those relocated, 978,400 were previously living in “flood storage” areas and their homes were inundated by floodwaters.

Authorities in Hebei said they would try to ensure residents forced to move could return home or move into new residences before winter.

More than 40,000 houses collapsed and over 150,000 others were seriously damaged in the torrential rains and floods that affected 110 counties in Hebei, Zhang said.

Zhang added that 1,150 schools and 1,871 medical facilities were damaged.

The Hebei provincial government said it was still assessing the damage, but that direct economic losses from the floods had already exceeded 95.8 billion yuan (US$13.4 billion).

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management issued 1.46 billion yuan in flood control funds, increasing the total amount to 7.738 billion yuan this year

02:37

Northeast China evacuates over 1,200 residents as Typhoon Khanun threatens the region

Northeast China evacuates over 1,200 residents as Typhoon Khanun threatens the region
Several provinces in northern and northeastern China suffered severe flooding in late July and early August because of historically heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Doksuri.

A village in the city of Xingtai reported receiving 1,008.5mm (39.7 inches) of rain during the recent storms, more than any other locality in the province, Zhang said.

Earlier this month, Beijing, which neighbours Hebei, announced rainfall in the capital city hit 745mm during the storms, breaking a 140-year record.

Beijing reported 33 deaths as of Friday, more than any other provincial-level region in China.

The National Meteorological Centre warned on Friday morning that Beijing, Hebei, and the port city of Tianjin would be hit by torrential rain from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. It said there would be a “high degree of overlap” between the areas hit by the rain and those affected by the earlier floods.

The last time Hebei province suffered severe flooding was in July 2016, when 130 people were killed.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Premier Li Qiang asked local governments in flood-hit areas to start reconstruction without delay and “maintain the stability of society”.

Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing assessed disaster relief work in Hebei on Monday and asked local authorities to help flood-hit areas return to normal as soon as possible, come up with reconstruction plans and issue compensation for those affected.

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