30 killed, over 80,000 evacuated as Beijing turns into rain trap

Thirty people have been killed in Beijing and over 80,000 evacuated as at midnight on July 29, after almost a year's worth of rain hit the capital in a matter of days, prompting some experts to call the city a rain trap.

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BEIJING -

The deaths were reported in Beijing's mountainous northern districts near the Great Wall, with 28 in Miyun and two in Yanqing. State media did not specify when or how the deaths occurred.

Heavy rain started on July 23 and intensified around Beijing and its surrounding provinces on July 28, with the capital getting rainfall of up to 543.4mm in its northern districts, said Xinhua.

The average annual rainfall in Beijing is around 600mm.

"The cumulative amount of precipitation has been extremely high, reaching 80 to 90 per cent of the annual total in just a few days in some areas," said Dr Zhang Xuebin of the University of Victoria in Canada and chief executive of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium.

"Very few systems are designed to handle such an intense volume of rainfall over such a short period."

The local topography - mountains to the west and north - "trapped" the moist air and forced it to rise, enhancing the extraordinary amount of precipitation, he added.

The most intense rain occurred on July 26 in Beijing's hilly Huairou, which saw 95.3mm of rain in one hour.

Over 80,000 people have been evacuated in the Chinese capital alone and dozens of roads have been closed, with over 130 villages losing electricity, according to Beijing Daily.