Beijing: Recent deadly rains in Beijing have broken records, becoming the heaviest rainfall in the city's history since records began 140 years ago, according to the Beijing Meteorological Service. The storm, brought by former super typhoon Doksuri, hit the city after battering southern Fujian province and the Philippines.

The maximum recorded rainfall during the storm was 744.8 millimeters, surpassing the previous record of 609 millimeters in 1891. In just 40 hours, the rainfall neared the average amount for the entire month of July. This unprecedented downpour has affected millions of people across northern China, with swathes of suburban Beijing and neighboring Hebei province being severely hit.

The extreme rainfall led to evacuations of approximately 974,400 people in the capital and Hebei province. However, as water levels in major rivers receded below the warning mark, authorities lifted the red alert for flooding.

Despite the improved weather conditions, the focus has now shifted to the relief operation, with hundreds of rescue workers from the Chinese Red Cross dispatched to affected areas to clear debris and assist in evacuations. The death toll from the rains has reached 11 in Beijing, with 13 people still missing. In Hebei province, nine people were killed, and six remain missing.

President Xi Jinping has called for every effort to rescue those trapped or missing, and authorities are working tirelessly to minimize casualties and save lives. The extreme weather conditions in China this summer are part of a larger pattern of extreme weather events that scientists attribute to climate change.

As the country prepares for the arrival of typhoon Khanun, the sixth such storm of the year, authorities are vigilant about potential further impacts on China's east coast. The situation calls for continued monitoring and preparedness measures to mitigate the effects of such extreme weather events.