A Beijing official publicly recognized shortcomings in the city’s handling of the severe floods that recently struck the capital.
Yu Weiguo, a Communist Party secretary in Miyun, the district hardest hit by the extreme weather, acknowledged during a press conference on Thursday that there were deficiencies in the city’s preparedness for the deadly flooding.
At least 40 people died in the floods that affected Miyun and Yanqing, another Beijing district, over Sunday and Monday. Nine individuals remain missing, including four municipal workers.
Record rainfall, equivalent to a year’s typical precipitation in just seven days, overturned vehicles and submerged homes. Over 80,000 residents were evacuated, and more than 100 villages experienced power outages. In total, the disaster impacted over 300,000 people.
“Our emergency plans had gaps, and our understanding of extreme weather was insufficient. This tragedy has reminded us that prioritizing people’s lives is far more than just a saying,” Yu stated, according to Agence France-Presse.
Among the confirmed deaths, 31 occurred at a nursing home in Taishitun, a town in Miyun. A report from a Beijing-based publication noted that floodwaters in the facility remained knee-deep days after the disaster. Located near the Qingshui River, which overflowed during the storm, the care home housed many residents with mobility difficulties.
Yu expressed profound condolences for the lives lost.
His remarks mark an unusual admission of failures in the city’s readiness for increasingly frequent extreme weather. Authorities reported that Beijing received 67% more rainfall this year compared to previous averages.
Officials admitted that disaster response plans had flaws and that infrastructure in Beijing’s mountainous outskirts had weaknesses.
Some affected residents told CuriosityNews they were not given sufficient advance warning.
“The authorities were unprepared; they didn’t know beforehand either,” said Li Qingfa, a 75-year-old Miyun resident. “We didn’t receive clear warnings or training on how to respond.”
Before the full extent of the damage became clear, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, urged government agencies to “do everything possible to safeguard lives and property.”
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