Beijing chaos after record floods in Chinese capital

BBC News, 22 July 2012

Chaos at the capital's Guangqumen overpass as cars are deluged

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The heaviest rainfall to hit China's capital Beijing in 60 years has left 10 people dead and stranded thousands at the main airport.

The deluge struck on Saturday afternoon and continued into the night, flooding major roads, state media said.

Roof collapses, lightning strikes and electrocution from downed power lines were among the causes of the deaths.

More than 500 flights were cancelled at the main airport, the Beijing News reported.

State news agency Xinhua said 460mm (18.1 in) fell in Beijing's Fangshan district, with the capital as a whole averaging 170mm.

It said 14,500 people, mostly in outlying districts, had to be evacuated.

"There could be further large-scale storms or extreme weather," the Beijing city government's website said.

Outside the capital, four people died in the northern province of Shanxi when their truck was swept into a river, Xinhua reported.

A further six people were killed by landslides in Sichuan province, in the southwest, the agency said.

'Like a waterfall'

British student Tom Smith, who has been living in China for a year, told the BBC it was like "standing under a waterfall.

"All the manholes had vanished because the water was sitting on top of them. It looked very dangerous and very difficult to find where these holes were," he said.

Another Briton in Beijing, 20-year-old Reece Ayers, described "terrifying loud bolts of lightning and truly relentless downpours.

"Old women could be seen wading through the streets and shop owners desperately tried to tunnel water from their establishments.

"Waves of water would send bicycles tumbling and rubbish bins floating.

"I was terrified, most of all, by the thought of tumbling down a manhole without a cover after a friend told me that several people had died that way last year."

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