Floods Devastate Beijing, China Brief Reports

More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from flood-prone areas in Beijing as the capital braces for additional heavy rain, following devastating storms late last month that killed at least 44 people, James Palmer reported for China Brief.

During summer storms, the city’s streets often become rivers—or, more commonly, open sewers. (Photo: Xinhua)

The ongoing disaster highlights Beijing’s vulnerability to extreme weather events, especially as climate change accelerates.

During summer storms, the city’s streets often become rivers—or, more commonly, open sewers.

This can be deadly: in a 2012 storm, at least 79 people were killed, some drowning in their cars trapped in underpasses, others perishing in flooded basement apartments or underground homes.

That death toll is likely an undercount, as Beijing’s most vulnerable residents—migrant workers—are also among the least documented.

One paradox of Beijing is that while it suffers from severe flooding, it simultaneously faces acute water scarcity.

The city has just 150 cubic meters of fresh water per capita available annually from local sources—far below the global “absolute scarcity” threshold of 500 cubic meters per capita.

And that’s based on the official population of around 23 million, which may itself be underestimated, as Chinese metropolises often have incentives to undercount their residents.