China’s strongest typhoon this year battered Beijing on Aug. 12 with bouts of heavy rain that flooded key roads and stranded vehicles, while lashing wide swaths of the country, after setting new rainfall records in central and eastern provinces.
Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in Zhejiang Province on Aug. 9 before moving inland. Although the storm was downgraded and its official tracking number was discontinued on Aug. 11, the leftover tropical moisture collided with cooler air masses and was forced upward by the Taihang and Yan mountain ranges, two major ranges near Beijing.
State media said rainfall records were shattered in parts of Zhejiang and the central provinces of Henan and Hubei this week. Records for a single day of rain in August were smashed in the city of Wugang, home to one of China’s largest steel companies, which received about 8.2 inches of rain, while Xiangyang received 6.6 inches.
The Ministry of Emergency Management warned on Wednesday that the combined effects of the remnants and cold air could push severe rainfall farther north, affecting parts of central and northern China. Henan, in particular, faced the risk of extreme rainfall because of local terrain.
Beijing declared its second-highest rainstorm warning, suspending 250 bus routes and shutting 150 tourist attractions, while 10 subway lines ran at reduced speed, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.
Rainfall in some areas reached almost 4 inches per hour, according to Xinhua. The city recorded an average of 1.34 inches from Aug. 11 to 12, while the maximum total rainfall reached 8.11 inches in Miyun district.
The downpours turned a multi-lane roadway in Beijing into a virtual river, bringing traffic to a standstill with cars and buses partially submerged, video images showed on China’s Rednote.
A Beijing resident who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal said that heavy rain began Tuesday afternoon and continued into Wednesday, at times accompanied by strong winds.
Low-lying areas near his home in Haidian district were flooded to waist depth overnight, he said, adding that he noticed some food items at nearby supermarkets were running low.
The city’s orange rainstorm warning was lifted Wednesday evening.
Heavy rain also hit much of Hebei and Tianjin. Hebei recorded maximum accumulated rainfall of 5.11 inches in Zhangbei county, while Tianjin’s Jizhou district recorded 4.18 inches, according to Chinese internet portal NetEase. Parts of both regions experienced torrential or exceptionally heavy rain.
Henan was among the hardest-hit areas. From Tuesday to Wednesday, much of the province’s central region saw torrential rain, with exceptionally heavy rainfall reported in parts of Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan, Xuchang, Luohe, Zhoukou and Nanyang, which are all prefecture-level cities spanning the central, western, and southern regions of the province, according to the state-run China News Service.
Henan recorded an average 24-hour rainfall of 4.5 inches as of Wednesday morning, while 309 monitoring stations reported more than 9.8 inches. Changcun village in Ye county recorded the highest total at 17.2 inches, according to Chinese internet portal Sohu.
More than 65,000 people had been evacuated to safety across Henan by Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.
Rainfall in Henan weakened gradually on Thursday, although parts of the north, central-east, and south could still see heavy to torrential rain. The severe weather is expected to end by Friday.
