- Title: PERSONAL: Man loses it all in Beijing's worst flood in 140 years
- Date: 4th August 2023
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (AUGUST 4, 2023) (REUTERS) LOCAL RESIDENT, MR. GAO (IN BLUE), WALKING / NEIGHBOURS TALKING / WOMAN SAYING (UPSOT) (Mandarin): “IT’S GONE. THE HOUSE IS GONE.†GAO TALKING TO NEIGHBOUR DEBRIS AND RUBBLE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 60-YEAR-OLD LOCAL RESIDENT, MR. GAO, SAYING: "After everything, when we woke up in the morning, we could see that the waters were still flowing normally. Then all of a sudden, the water went over the bridge, and then suddenly there was a mudslide that blocked the bridge, and then the water slowly seeped over. There used to be a hill here, and a wall. And then the water went over the walls and came in." MAN WALKING PAST UPROOTED TREE UPROOTED TREE AND RUBBLE NEXT TO ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 60-YEAR-OLD LOCAL RESIDENT, MR. GAO, SAYING: “The two of us, my wife and I, escaped with our lives. The tables and chairs were all floating around, it was a squeeze. And the water started to charge. Afterwards, we ran to the second floor and saw the water rushing from the back to the front. All these trees and branches flooded into the living room and blocked the house. There might even be a car in here." DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PILE OF DEBRIS OUTSIDE DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING DEBRIS, STREWN HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AND CLOTHING OUTSIDE DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 60-YEAR-OLD LOCAL RESIDENT, MR. GAO, SAYING: "Most of the houses were damaged. All the cars in the yard were swept away by the flood waters. The damage is too much, too serious." DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CORDONED OFF CLOTHING ON HANGERS CAKED IN MUD GAO WALKING PAST DEBRIS OUTSIDE SEVERELY DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING / WOMAN USING A HAMMER TO BREAK DOWN DEBRIS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 60-YEAR-OLD LOCAL RESIDENT, MR. GAO, SAYING: "The one outside (door) fell down, it collapsed. Once the door collapsed, the entire balcony all collapsed." GAO GOING THROUGH FRIDGE TO SALVAGE ANY FOOD LEFT EMERGENCY WORKER HANDING GAO A CONTAINER FOOD STREWN ON THE FLOOR GAO GOING THROUGH ITEMS IN FRIDGE / EMERGENCY WORKER STANDING NEARBY GAO GOING THROUGH FRIDGE ITEMS
- Embargoed: 18th August 2023 09:31
- Keywords: beijing china climate change climate disaster doksuri emergency flood flooding floods hebei natural disaster rescue rescuers typhoon weather zhuozhou
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Disaster/Accidents,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA001221304082023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Until last week, 60-year-old Beijing resident Gao had everything.
He lived with his wife in a large apartment that had scenic and mountainous views in a Beijing suburb and was driving a Class-E Mercedes Benz car.
But he lost it all in the most extreme rainfall in 140 years in Beijing, caused by typhoon Doksuri earlier this week.
Doksuri has killed at least 20 people, displaced thousands and flooded Beijing and several other cities since it made landfall in the south of China.
"The two of us, my wife and I, escaped with our lives. The tables and chairs were all floating around... we ran to the second floor and saw the water rushing from the back to the front," said Gao as he showed Reuters his apartment, filled with water sodden debris and broken windows blockaded by tree trunks.
He added that his luxury car is still missing.
Gao lives about 40 kilometres from city centre of Beijing in the worst hit Mentougou district, where the first two casualties in the city was reported.
Doksuri is now sweeping across agriculture land in China's north, submerging farms and worsening floods that have already swamped cities around the country as rescue workers scrambled to contain the damages.
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