At least 60 people have lost their lives and 37 others remain missing in eastern China due to widespread floods caused by heavy rains over the past 10 days. The missing people include 51 in Beijing, 28 in Hebei, 15 in Jilin, and 3 in Fujian.
The remnants of Typhoon “Doksuri” battered northern China from July 29 to August 1, 2023, unloading an entire year’s worth of rainfall and triggering devastating floods. The worst affected were Beijing and Hebei’s Zhuozhou where more than 1.2 million people were evacuated. At least 30 people have lost their lives and more than 30 remain missing.
The remnants of Typhoon “Doksuri” dropped record-breaking rainfall in China’s capital Beijing on July 30 and 31, 2023, leading to severe flooding. The historic rainfall measuring 687 mm (27 inches) over 48 hours resulted in at least two deaths and the evacuation of more than 50 000 people. This extreme rainfall event is still in progress.
Typhoon Doksuri, which struck the Philippines, Taiwan, and China from July 26 to 29, 2023, resulted in significant damage, displacements, and fatalities. The storm left 41 dead in the Philippines before lashing Taiwan and making landfall in mainland China, causing widespread evacuations, record-breaking rainfall, and severe economic losses.
Typhoon “Doksuri” — known as Egay in the Philippines — intensified into a super typhoon on Wednesday, July 25, 2023, having reached a maximum sustained wind speed of 240 km/h (150 mph) — the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic.
On Monday, July 17, 2023, Typhoon “Talim” — the fourth named storm of the 2023 Pacific typhoon season and the first to make landfall in China — prompted the evacuation of 39 236 fishing vessels and over 36 600 fishermen in Hainan, South China. The typhoon, which initially made landfall in Guangdong Province on the same day, led to a renewed Orange alert by China’s national observatory due to anticipated gales and heavy rainfall.
Tropical Storm “Talim” formed in the East China Sea on July 14, 2023, as the 4th named storm of the 2023 Pacific Ocean typhoon season. The storm is heading toward southern China, with landfall expected in Guangdong Province around 18:00 UTC on July 17.
More than 40 000 people have been evacuated in China’s Sichuan province after heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides. The rains have also caused widespread damage to homes and infrastructure.
Rescue operations are in progress in central China’s Hubei Province after a massive landslide struck a highway construction site on Saturday, July 8, 2023. The landslide, which involved over 500 000 m3 (17.6 million ft3) of soil, has led to the rescue of five individuals, while nine others remain missing, according to a statement from local authorities.
In response to severe flooding over the past couple of days, over 10 000 individuals were urgently evacuated in China’s central Hunan province, according to the Xiang’xi Emergency Management Bureau. The devastation included the collapse of around 70 homes, damages to 2 283 others, and flooded farmlands, leading to estimated losses of around 575 million yuan ($79 million).
