2023-08-12 09:43:40
7 hours ago
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Swallowed in the earth-colored torrent in western Beijing, ten-year-old Miao Chunyou screamed for her mother. The rushing flood swept her away from her father. Flooding drove the family of three onto the roof of a neighbor’s house. Chunyou’s mother rushed to grab a branch to save her daughter, but in the end she watched helplessly as her daughter was washed away by the flood…
That was the last time she saw her daughter.
It has been more than ten days since the daughter disappeared, and there is no news so far.
“It was like a scene in a movie, a huge and violent flood came,” Chunyou’s mother told the BBC. She only revealed her surname, Chang.
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Ten-year-old Miao Chunyou was engulfed in an earthy torrent in western Beijing.
China is no stranger to floods.
But this July was affected by three typhoons in the Pacific Ocean for three consecutive weeks, adding to the seasonal heavy rainfall. Two of the three typhoons landed in China. Among them, the super typhoon Dusurui moved slowly in Northwest China for a few days at that time. The torrent caused by the heavy rain this week flooded some surrounding provinces and regions such as Beijing and Hebei. The capital Beijing experienced the heaviest rainfall in 140 years.
So far 62 people have died in the floods, including 33 in Beijing and 29 in neighboring Hebei province.
Chunyou was “swallowed by flood waves that were two adults tall and came one following the other,” her mother said. “Villagers in their 70s and 80s also said that they have never seen such a large flood in their entire lives.”
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Zhuozhou City is one of the places with the worst flood disasters in North China. At the peak of the disaster, more than one-sixth of the city’s residents were evacuated, and many returned home with flood-damaged homes and furniture.
Ms. Chang told the BBC that until July 30, it was still raining heavily. But family members thought the worst was over, but stayed home, fearing that going out would expose them to landslides. But the next morning “it was raining heavily,” Ms. Chang said.
With the rain quickly filling the house, she and her husband tried to pump the water outside. But within half an hour, floodwaters and sediment broke through the front wall.
Mr. Chang is a migrant laborer who spends most of the year selling spices in Beijing. His wife and children just came to Beijing to visit him when the heavy rain hit.
In the past, under the anti-epidemic zero policy, the family spent most of the time separated in two places for many years. This is a long-awaited reunion.
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So far 62 people have died in the floods, including 33 in Beijing and 29 in neighboring Hebei province.
On the day before Chunyou disappeared, they planned to visit Tiananmen Square.
Ms. Chang and her husband adopted Chunyou when she was a baby. They also have two older sons, 27-year-old twins, who had returned to their hometown in Henan when the floods hit.
The mother said one of the sons was unable to even speak when they learned that their little sister had been swept away by the floodwaters.
China’s flood control system allows water to be diverted from major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin to surrounding areas.
During the floods, Hebei Party Secretary Ni Yuefeng proudly declared Hebei to be a “moat” to protect the capital, sparking outrage among residents. Residents said the floodwaters came so quickly that they were caught off guard.
Mr. Kai (willing to disclose his surname only) who lives in Beijing received an urgent message on WeChat on August 2, saying that his family lived in Tangjiazhuang Mountain Village, Hebei Province, and that a landslide occurred two days ago.
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Families gathered in mountain villages to escape the heat as many regions were battered by a heatwave ahead of the typhoon’s deadly rains
This has cut off the village of 2,000 mainly elderly residents from the outside world. Families gathered in mountain villages to escape the heat and enjoy the cool highland climate as many regions were battered by a heatwave ahead of the typhoon’s deadly rains.
Mr. Kui said that he and his wife rushed to Tangjiazhuang to rescue their relatives. But in a neighboring village, they were stopped by neck-deep water. Without flinching, they chose another 3-hour uphill route. The terrain caused him to slip and sprain his ankle.
Mr. Kui’s wife recalled: “When we finally got there, all we saw was the ocean, and there was nothing left.”
Rescuers arrived at Tangjiazhuang on August 3, just three days following the landslide and a day following the couple found their relatives’ village in ruins.
According to local government statistics, a total of 10 people were killed and 18 people were missing. Citing anecdotal reports, Mr Kui said the death toll may be higher than the official tally.
Mr. Kui told the BBC whether any of his seven relatives were dead or missing, including his two nephews, aged 7 and 4. He read out the names of relatives and friends himself: “Kai Heying, my second grandfather; Li Shulan, my second aunt; Kui Hechun, my third grandfather; Jing Zhizhen, my third wife; Kui Gongle, my younger sister; and her two children, Li Jiaqi and Li Jiaxin.”
Chinese state media released the death toll outside Beijing within days and focused on rescue efforts. News reports headlined “There is a sense of security called the People’s Liberation Army” or “Shandong Rescue Team Works in Floods, Hunger Causes Hands to Shake Uncontrollably in the Cold.”
However, that did not stop netizens on social media from noticing that, unlike previous Chinese leaders, current President Xi Jinping has not visited any of the sites where the floods occurred. His call to “go all out” to rescue the floods was also played up in Chinese state media.
On July 31, when parts of northern China were flooded and Chunyou was washed away, Mr. Xi attended a ceremony in Beijing for the promotion of generals on the Central Military Commission.
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So far 62 people have died in the floods, including 33 in Beijing and 29 in neighboring Hebei province.
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As the floodwaters receded, people began to rebuild their lives, clearing mud deposits from their homes or cleaning brown clothing and appliances.
Xia Ming, a professor of political science and global affairs at City University of New York, believes that Xi Jinping is confirming his status as a “princeling”, that is, he was born into a family of senior Communist Party officials.
As a result, Xia Ming told the BBC, “he has gained a lot of legitimacy from the revolutionary tradition of the Communist Party, and is in no hurry to gain some more from public opinion – while his predecessors Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao did, because they were born In ordinary families.”
As the floodwaters receded, people began to rebuild their lives, clearing mud deposits from their homes or cleaning brown clothing and appliances.
But scientists say climate change will produce stronger and more frequent typhoons like Dusuri’s. For Mr. Kui, the impact of this tragedy was too great. He told the BBC that in the village “we also see cracks on the side of the mountain, and it will definitely be dangerous in the future. We will definitely not live there once more.”
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