Sawt Falasteen - Beijing lifts rain alert after tens of thousands evacuated

The municipal weather office had imposed a red rainstorm warning -- the highest in a four-tier system -- on Monday, forecasting heavy downpours until Tuesday morning.

The office lifted the alert early Tuesday morning, saying in a social media statement the weather system had weakened as it drifted eastwards.

But it continued to warn of isolated downpours across outlying parts of the city, adding that people "must not let up after strong rains have passed" as landslides or other disasters may follow.

Authorities evacuated over 82,000 people at risk from heavy rainfall as of Monday evening, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the city's flood control headquarters. It was unclear when they may return.

Officials warned of flooding risks in the northeastern suburb of Miyun -- the hardest hit by the recent deluge -- as well as southwestern Fangshan, western Mentougou and northern Huairou.

In Miyun, where dozens died last week, most of the recent floodwater had receded on Tuesday -- leaving behind a trail of debris including tree branches and piles of bricks.

AFP reporters saw dented cars, toppled tractors and household items like strollers and luggages strewn across the muddy ground.

Twisted metal railings and slanted utility poles still lined the roadside as workers in neon yellow vests and wearing hard hats worked to clear the wreckage.

Nearby, trees had been uprooted, lying in a river gushing with murky brown water.

Last week, floods in Beijing's northern suburbs killed at least 44 people and left nine missing, according to official figures.

Residents of flood-hit areas told AFP journalists they had been surprised at the speed with which the rushing water had inundated homes and villages.

The devastation prompted a local official to make a rare admission that there had been "gaps" in disaster readiness.

"Our knowledge of extreme weather was lacking," Yu Weiguo, the district's ruling Communist Party boss, said.

- Restoring order -

At a meeting on Monday, the municipal government stressed the need to "restore the normal order of life and production in post-disaster areas as quickly as possible".

China's public security ministry also warned people to be on guard against "rumours", including exaggerating the extent of natural disasters to create panic, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.

China has been lashed by heavy rains in recent weeks, with heavy flooding in the north followed by intense precipitation along the southern coast.

Parts of the southern city of Hong Kong were brought to a standstill on Tuesday by flooding caused by heavy rains, after the highest-tier rainstorm warning was issued for the fourth time in eight days.

Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat.

China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense.

But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST