Water-logged northern China faces threat of more disasters

The risk of landslides, mudslides and similar disasters will stay high in northern China for the rest of August into early September, weeks after historic rains and floods lashed the province of Hebei, authorities said on Wednesday.

Disaster response efforts were challenged by storms in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri that recently bettered key cities, with the capital, Beijing, getting the highest rainfall in 140 years over a short period while flooded rivers displaced thousands.

China continues to experience the main flooding period, hit by heavy rain, floods and typhoons saturating the soil in some mountainous northern and northeastern areas, the natural resources ministry said.

Speaking at a news conference, ministry official Xie Chengxiang pledged to assist local governments to "resolutely evacuate and relocate" people from areas at risk of disaster "as much and as early as possible".

The ministry said western Beijing, north-central Hebei, and parts of the northeastern provinces of Jilin and Liaoning, got heavy rain, taking the soil in mountainous areas close to saturation, heightening risks of disasters caused by heavy rain.

Media said that by Aug 18, data from the state financial regulator showed 269,300 insurance cases had been reported in 16 disaster-stricken areas, including Hebei, Beijing and northeastern Heilongjiang, with an estimated total loss of almost US$1.37 billion (about RM6.4 billion).