China relocates over 1M people amid heavy rains

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Chinese authorities have relocated over 1.2 million residents as heavy rains lashed the country’s northern Hebei province, state media reported.

Typhoon Doksuri deluged the region designated for flood storage and detention with torrential rain since last weekend, causing some 857,200 people to relocate.

The province deployed more than 4,700 rescue teams comprising over 100,000 individuals to assist in rescue and relief operations.

Authorities gradually ended the rescue mission as the water levels subsided in the capital. The heavy rain left 20 people dead, of which 11 were in Beijing, and 19 are still missing.

Nazmus Sakib, a Bangladeshi medical doctor living in China, dubbed the post-rains situation “terrible.”

“I’ve lived in China for 13 years and have never seen this kind of rain. This was terrible,” Sakib told the Chinese broadcaster CGTN.

He added that Chinese authorities were quick to respond to the situation.

Soldiers and military choppers were deployed across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to search and rescue people. Authorities have released around $15 million to respond to the situation.