China has been battered by Typhoon Doksuri, which sparked chaos with torrential downpours flooding major cities, affecting around 130 million people.
Rain began to soak northern China on Saturday as Doksuri, one of the strongest storms to hit the country in years, rolled toward Beijing after pummelling the Philippines and Taiwan, and lashing China’s coast.
A broad area encompassing the capital faces medium to high risk of rainstorm disasters over the coming three days, China’s national forecaster said.
Cumulative rainfall of 100mm (four inches) or more is forecast over 220,000 square km (85,000 square miles), potentially affecting 130 million people.
Videos showed residents swimming for their lives as they donned lifejackets to traverse rainwater which had reached such high levels that cars were submerged and shop doors were almost completely covered.
Rescue workers gave piggybacks to children and the elderly who had been trapped by the storm while people were forced to travel some flooded streets by dinghy instead of by car.
Elsewhere, cars became stranded due to the depth of the water as a team effort was needed to push them to safety while the rain continued to lash down.
