Over 19,000 Evacuated After Floods Hit China

Torrential rainstorms have struck northern China, flooding the city of Baoding and forcing over 19,000 residents to evacuate their homes, according to the country’s national meteorological authority.

The intense weather battered Hebei province, where Baoding is located, dropping nearly a full year’s worth of rainfall in just 24 hours. In Yi County, in western Baoding, rain levels reached 447.4 millimeters between Thursday morning and early Friday, almost matching the city’s annual average of just over 500 millimeters.

The Chinese Meteorological Administration reported that 19,453 people from 6,171 households had to be relocated due to the flooding. Several weather stations in Hebei updated their records to reflect the severity of the storm.

Authorities have not disclosed where evacuees were moved, but a video shared on social media showed two police officers in rain gear standing in a flooded street as rain continued to pour overnight.

The storms are part of a growing trend of extreme weather across China, which has increasingly impacted urban and rural areas alike. Emergency services remain on alert as forecasts predict more rain in the days ahead.