Flood In Beijing, China

This morning, July 21st 2012, Beijing is submerged by a flash flood. Within a day, this capital of
People’s Republic of China (PRC) has turned into a disaster zone with multiple landslides and
floods appeared throughout the city that cause numerous infrastructure damage and a citywide
traffic chaos and causing at least 10 billion Yuan (equals to US $1.6 billion) loss.

The heaviest rainfall that occurred a day before, along with the limited capacity of urban
drainage networks are the main cause of this disastrous event. This incident was a part of series
of flooding events across China that began in June. It is reported that the flood has affected
around 1.6 million citizen overall. It is also recorded that around fifty thousand people had been
evacuated after the wave of flood destroyed eight thousand houses.

This incident was acknowledged as the heaviest flood to ever hit Beijing in 60 years. A woman
in Fangshan District, the most heavily affected area of Beijing during this disaster, reported that
The Juma River rose 1.3 metres in approximately ten minutes, which considered to be the
highest flow rate ever recorded. It is also recorded that around nine landslides occurred that day
in Beijing’s northern suburbs which cutting of electrical power and also shutting down multiple
roads and highway.