At least 11 killed, 27 missing in Beijing rainstorms

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Beijing, state media said Tuesday, in downpours that have submerged roads and deluged neighbourhoods with mud.Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, had swept northwards through China since hitting southern Fujian province on Friday after first scything through the Philippines. Heavy rains began pummelling Beijing and its surrounding areas on Saturday, with nearly the average rainfall for the entire month of July dumped on the capital in just 40 hours. Swathes of suburban Beijing remain badly hit by the rains — some of the city's heaviest in years.

On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported the rains had killed at least 11 people and that 27 were missing. Among the dead were two workers «killed on duty during rescue and relief» efforts, it said. More than 100,000 people across the city deemed at risk had been evacuated, state-owned tabloid the Global Times reported.

On the banks of the Mentougou river, one of the areas worst affected by the flooding, AFP reporters saw muddy debris strewn across the road. One local elderly man told AFP he had not seen flooding this bad since July 2012, when 79 people were killed and tens of thousands evacuated. «This time it's much bigger than that,» he said, declining to give his name.

«It's a natural disaster, there's nothing you can do,» a man in his 20s surnamed Qi told AFP as he waited for a taxi outside a hospital with his grandmother. "(We) still have to work hard and rebuild," he added. About a dozen emergency vehicles, including trucks with water tanks and bulldozers, were spotted on the road between Shijingshan and Mentougou districts.