Beijing
\nThirty-three people have been confirmed dead and 18 are still missing after Beijing\u2019s heaviest rains on record, officials said on Wednesday.
\nChina\u2019s capital has been hit by record downpours in recent weeks, damaging infrastructure and deluging swathes of the city\u2019s suburbs and surrounding areas.
\nOfficials said on Wednesday that 33 had died in the recent bad weather in Beijing, mainly by flooding and buildings collapsing, almost three times the figure given by officials last Tuesday.
\n\u201cI would like to express my deep condolences to those who died in the line of duty and the unfortunate victims,\u201d Xia Linmao, Beijing\u2019s vice mayor, told a press conference, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
\nScores have died in the floods across northern China, with Beijing on Friday saying 147 deaths or disappearances last month were caused by natural disasters.
\nOf those, 142 were caused by flooding or geological disasters, China\u2019s Ministry of Emergency Management said.
\nIn Hebei province, which neighbours Beijing, 15 were reported to have died and 22 were missing.
\nAnd in northeastern Jilin, 14 died and one person was reported missing on Sunday.
\nFurther north in Heilongjiang, state media reported dozens of rivers saw water levels rise above \u201cwarning markers\u201d in recent days.
\n\u201cI still feel scared when I recall the recent flooding,\u201d Zheng Xiaokang, a police officer from the province\u2019s Jiangxi village, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
\n\u201cIn the face of the persistent downpour and rising river water, the consequences would have been devastating had we not managed to timely evacuate the villagers,\u201d Zheng said.
\nMillions of people have been hit by extreme weather events and prolonged heatwaves around the globe in recent weeks, events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing Thirty-three people have been confirmed dead and 18 are still missing after Beijing\u2019s heaviest rains on record, officials said on Wednesday. China\u2019s capital has been hit by record downpours in recent weeks, damaging infrastructure and deluging swathes of the city\u2019s suburbs and surrounding areas. Officials said on Wednesday that 33 had died in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-348279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n