Heavy rains in northern China kill 4 as Beijing and nearby areas brace for more

BEIJING (AP) — Heavy rain and flooding in northern China have killed four people while several others remain missing, officials said Monday, and thousands of people were evacuated as the region including Beijing braced for more rainfall overnight.

The victims were caught in a landslide in a rural part of Luanping county in Hebei province, which borders the capital, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Eight people were missing. A resident told the state-backed Beijing News that communications were down and he couldn’t reach his relatives.

Beijing authorities said they would launch a top-level emergency response at 8 p.m., ordering people to stay inside, closing schools, suspending construction work and stopping outdoor tourism and other activities until the response is lifted.

The heaviest rain in Beijing was expected after midnight, with rainfall of up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) forecast for some areas.

In the district of Miyun, an outlying part of Beijing, floodwaters could be seen sweeping away parked cars in an apartment complex in footage shown by the state broadcaster.

Authorities were discharging water from the Miyun reservoir, a main source of water for the city, and warning people to stay away from rivers downstream as their levels rose.

Officials told the Beijing Daily they had evacuated 4,015 people to avoid the floods as the reservoir recorded its highest level since record-keeping began in 1951.

In the nearby city of Tianjin, some 5,600 people were relocated for fear of floods, CCTV reported.

The central government said in a statement it had sent 50 million yuan (about $7 million) to Hebei and dispatched a high-level team of emergency responders to help the affected cities, which include Chengde, Baoding and Zhangjiakou.

Beijing and Hebei suffered severe flooding in 2023.