Local authorities in the Chinese capital said Wednesday that 33 people died and 18 others had been reported missing as of Tuesday due to the downpours that hit Beijing from July 29 to August 2.

So far, nearly 1.29 million people and 225,000 mu (15,000 hectares) of crops have been affected, while 59,000 houses have collapsed and another 147,000 severely damaged, Xia Linmao, executive vice mayor of Beijing, said at a press conference.

Beijing experienced heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years, with Wangjiayuan reservoir in Changping District recording 745 millimeters of rain.

Reconstruction plans 

Xia said the city is making plans for overall post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. It will take about a year for the city to basically recover and carry out restoration include repairing water conservancy facilities, reinforcing damaged houses and rebuilding rural self-built houses, he said.

Xia said that basic infrastructure, including transportation, energy and communications, as well as healthcare and other public service facilities should be basically restored to pre-disaster levels.

The complete reconstruction will take about three years, with a significant increase in the capacity to prevent and reduce disasters and ample socioeconomic development.

The city has also set a long-term sustainable development plan, targeting on optimizing the functional layout of the disaster-hit areas, improving the quality of infrastructure to better serve the public and boosting the quality and efficiency of economic growth, said Xia.

(Cover: Tanwang Road damaged by floods in Nanxinfang Village, Tanzhesi Town, Mentougou District, Beijing, China, August 1, 2023. /CFP)