At Least 14 Die in Floods in Northeastern China

At Least 14 Die in Floods in Northeastern China
People clean muddied items outside a store after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province, China, on Aug. 7, 2023. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)
Reuters
8/7/2023
Updated:
8/7/2023
0:00

BEIJING—At least fourteen people were reported to have died over the weekend in the Chinese city of Shulan due to flooding caused by Typhoon Doksuri.

Northeastern China, Beijing and Hebei Province have seen heavy rainfall and floods since the typhoon made landfall in southern Fujian Province two weeks ago.

The deaths in Shulan, in northeastern Jilin Province, add to the more than 20 who died last week in Beijing and Hebei. Authorities have yet to provide an overall death toll for the entire country.

The actual number of casualties from such events may be much higher as the Chinese regime routinely suppresses or alters information.

Three officials were among the dead in Shulan, including a vice mayor of the city of about 587,000 people, state media reported late on Sunday.

Water levels in the city have receded to safe levels. Power had been restored to 14,305 homes, state media reported.

Regional authorities said sections of the Songhua, the main river in northeastern China, and the Nenjiang tributary remained at dangerously high levels.

Over the past five days, rainfall in the south of Heilongjiang’s capital Harbin and nearby city Mudanjiang, in northern Jilin Province and in Yanbian in its east have recorded cumulative precipitation of almost or more than 100 millimeters (3.93 inches), the national forecaster said.

Power was also restored to many flood-hit areas of Beijing and in Hebei Province.

The national forecaster warned the northeastern region to brace itself for more storms from Typhoon Khanun.

The typhoon, which has wreaked havoc in southern Japan and is expected to reach southern South Korea on Thursday, is forecast to bring winds and rainstorms to China’s northeast by the weekend as it travels over the Korean peninsula.

As it moves northward from Japan, Khanun could build up its speed and intensity before hitting South Korea’s coast, China’s weather forecaster said.