Typhoon remnants bring record rainfall and flooding across China

Beijing, China. The remnants of China’s strongest typhoon this year brought intense rain to the capital and other regions, flooding roads, disrupting transport and setting rainfall records in central and eastern provinces.

The storm made landfall in Zhejiang province on Sunday after travelling 6,000 kilometres, before weakening and drawing tropical moisture deep inland.

Disruption in Beijing

Beijing issued its second-highest rainstorm warning on Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Authorities suspended 250 bus routes and closed 150 tourist attractions, while 10 subway lines operated at reduced speeds.

Heavy rain flooded a multi-lane road in the capital, bringing traffic to a halt as cars and buses were partially submerged, according to video footage posted on China’s Rednote.

Changping district recorded the city’s highest hourly rainfall on Wednesday, receiving 90.7 millimetres of rain in the hour after 9 a.m., authorities said.

Record rainfall in provinces

The storm’s remnants continued to threaten flooding in northern and central China as its extensive rain bands brought further downpours.

In Yuhuan, a coastal city in Zhejiang province, nearly 200 millimetres of rain submerged nearby streets, while vehicles gathered on a bridge that remained above the floodwaters, according to social media footage verified by Reuters.

State media said rainfall records were broken in parts of Zhejiang, Henan and Hubei provinces.

Wugang recorded 209.5 millimetres of rain, breaking its August single-day rainfall record, while Xiangyang received 169.1 millimetres.

Further rain expected

People in northern and central regions prepared for several more days of rain from the remnants of the typhoon.

China has faced increasingly destructive weather, with scientists linking more frequent and intense typhoons to climate change and an emerging El Niño pattern.