Doksuri, which has swept across southeast China since Friday, is moving north, where its “impact” is already being felt, according to Chinese meteorological services, the Belgian news agency reported. Red, raised, the alert level, which came into effect at 8:00 p.m. local time on Saturday (3:00 p.m. Moscow time), covers a vast territory with a population of several hundred million people, including Beijing, the neighboring metropolis of Tianjin, the border provinces of Hebei in the north, Shandong in the east, as well as parts of Henan and Shanxi (north). For the first time since 2011, a heavy rain warning has been issued in China, according to local media reports. More than 60 centimeters of rain could fall in some places, the weather service warned.
In Beijing, several popular city parks, lakes and piers were closed on Saturday due to flood fears, the metropolitan municipality said. Heavy downpours briefly hit several areas of Beijing on Saturday afternoon. According to local media reports, the rains expected in the coming hours may be even heavier than in July 2012, when 79 people died during China’s historic floods.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Doksuri continues to advance on the other side of China. On Friday it caused significant material damage in the southeast of the country with wind gusts of up to 175 km/h. Since then, its intensity has diminished. National television showed images of trees strewn along roads and residential areas surrounded by vast expanses of muddy water.
China has experienced extreme weather and locally unusual temperatures in recent months, which scientists say is exacerbated by climate change. In early July, Beijing and its region broke temperature records with temperatures above 40°C.
