China: Heavy rains in Beijing: official death toll rises to 44, 9 missing

Torrential rains have hit northern China in recent days. The latest death toll from the rains and floods that have hit Beijing and its surrounding areas in recent days has risen to 44, with nine missing, authorities in the Chinese capital announced Thursday.

More than 80,000 people were evacuated in Beijing on Tuesday in anticipation of the expected heavy rains. But local authorities acknowledged on Thursday that there were "failures" in their preparations for the weather event.

“Our emergency plans were flawed. Our understanding of extreme weather is insufficient,” Yu Weiguo, a Chinese Communist Party official in the hard-hit Miyun district, said at a press conference. “This painful lesson has awakened us: putting people first, human life above all else, is not just a slogan,” he continued.

The bordering regions of Hebei and Tianjin, as well as 10 provinces in northern, eastern and southern China, were hit by the deadly rains and floods.

The government has allocated 350 million yuan (42 million euros) for relief operations in nine regions hit by heavy rainfall, CCTV announced Tuesday. A separate 200 million yuan (24 million euros) has been earmarked for Beijing alone, according to state television.

Natural disasters are common in China, especially during the summer, when some regions are submerged by torrential rains while others are plagued by intense heatwaves. China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say are accelerating climate change and making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.