Beijing readies shelters, relocates flood victims

A three-member medical team has been sent to the Longquan Elementary School shelter. "We have many elderly people who needed regular medical care. ...We took some of them to nearby hospitals. Things are going smoothly," said Li, who had not returned home since Saturday. "It's all right, we will get through it," he added.

Jiang Nan, 38, and her 12-year-old child were among those taken to the temporary shelter in the school. She said that civil servants were fetching water from outside to help them use toilets, as there was no tap water supply.

In Beijing's Fangshan district, which also experienced heavy flooding, 13,288 people have been relocated to shelters.

Fangshan authorities worked through Monday night to arrange food, drinking water, emergency lights and other supplies for affected residents. The supplies were being transported to Shahe Airport. Four helicopters will airdrop them in affected mountain villages, where rain and flooding have destroyed roads.

Meanwhile, Tianjin upgraded its flood emergency response to the highest level on Tuesday.

"More than 35,000 people have been relocated from areas prone to flooding," said Zhang Dongfang, an official from the local emergency management bureau.

Torrential rainfall has also battered Hebei province, damaging bridges and prompting evacuation efforts. The province renewed an orange alert for rainstorms on Tuesday.

A total of 847,400 people have been relocated so far, according to data from the provincial government.

Yang Cheng in Tianjin contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn