Beijing has issued a warning regarding potential environmental disasters, including landslides and mudslides, following heavy rainfall.
The storms affecting northern China for the second time this year have resulted in significant rainfall in the nearby city of Baoding.
The alert from the National Meteorological Administration in Beijing applies to ten out of the sixteen districts in the city, coinciding with local authorities’ warnings about possible flooding in mountainous areas.
In the neighboring Hebei province, China Central Television reported that the torrential rains overnight in Fuping, a part of the industrial Baoding, reached unprecedented levels at a weather station, with rainfall measuring 145 millimeters in one hour.
The Shichuang weather station registered the highest rainfall rate, recording 540 millimeters over eight hours, surpassing Baoding’s annual rainfall average of approximately 500 millimeters. Just a day earlier, similar storms had inundated the Yi area in Baoding with comparable amounts of precipitation.
According to China Central Television, the rainfall has severely impacted over 46,000 individuals, forcing 4,655 of them to evacuate their homes.
Meanwhile, Pakistan warned yesterday of potential glacial floods in the northwest region, where further rainfall is expected next week.
Anwar Shehzad, a spokesperson for the local disaster management agency, noted that the heavy rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been significantly more intense compared to the same period last year, prompting weather advisories and alerts for floods caused by glacial lake outbursts.
A statement from the agency indicated that ongoing rising temperatures may accelerate the melting of snow and glaciers, leading to subsequent weather events in the vulnerable areas of the region.
In the meantime, firefighters managed to control a forest fire that devastated 120 square kilometers north of the coastal city of Limassol in Cyprus, according to an online report from the Cyprus Times.
The report highlighted that both ground and aerial monitoring efforts continue to prevent a rekindling of the blaze. Tragically, two individuals lost their lives after a fire broke out in their vehicle, and numerous others were hospitalized for treatment.
The fire destroyed homes and resulted in the loss of animals in a mountainous village located about 20 kilometers north of Limassol, situated along the southern coast.