20 Dead, 27 Missing In Flooding After Days Of Rain

At least 20 people have died and 27 are reported missing amid flooding in the mountains surrounding Beijing, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Tuesday (August 1) via the Associated Press.

Local authorities shut down train stations and launched evacuations of residents in vulnerable areas. Cars were reported to have been washed away and piled as the flooding from several days of heavy rain brought on rushing waters.

The severe weather is strange for Beijing, which rarely sees rainfall during typically moderate, dry summers, though recently also seeing record-breaking high temperatures. Seasonal flooding does, however, hit other large parts of China during the summer, most commonly in the northern regions of the country, which had previously experienced one of the worst floods in 50 years earlier this year.

President Xi Jinping issued an order for local governments to go "all out" in rescue missions during the flooding. Eleven people were reported to have died and 27 are missing in the mountainous area west of Beijing's city center, while nine additional deaths were reported to have taken place in Hebei province, which is located just outside the metropolis and responsible for a large portion of food and labor in the region.

More than 500,000 people were impacted by flooding, CCTV reported, though the number of individuals who were moved to other locations had not been determined. At least 15 people were killed by floods that took place in Chongqing and about 5,590 were evacuated from Liaoning during heavy rain in early July, according to the AP.