【Epoch Times News August 1, 2025】Beijing has been hit by continuous heavy rainstorms recently, coupled with reservoir flood discharge, leading to severe flooding. According to the official report of the Chinese Communist Party on July 31, at least 44 people have died, with 31 of them from a nursing home in Miyun. Internal media even captured a clear mud handprint on the wall of the nursing home after the flood receded, suspected to have been left by a struggling victim.
From July 23 to 29, Beijing experienced extreme heavy rainfall. On the 27th, multiple reservoirs discharged floods, causing severe damage in mountainous areas such as Miyun, Huairou, Yanqing, and Pinggu. Among them, Miyun district suffered the most severe disaster, with floodwaters reaching several meters high and inundating many villages.
On July 31, Deputy Mayor Xia Linmao of Beijing stated at a flood prevention and disaster relief press conference that as of 12:00 on the 31st, there were 44 confirmed deaths due to the disaster in the city, with 9 individuals missing or unaccounted for.
According to preliminary statistics, Miyun district as a whole experienced disasters in 17 towns and 162 villages. More than 31,000 houses were damaged, 6,994 vehicles were destroyed, 10 roads were damaged, 105 villages experienced power grid failures, and 684 communication base stations were out of service. Approximately 113,000 people in the district were affected by the disaster, resulting in 37 deaths, including the 31 fatalities at the Taishitun town nursing care center.
Due to the Communist Party’s tendency to conceal disaster information, the actual extent of the damage and casualties may be more severe than officially reported.
Yu Weiguo, Secretary of the Miyun District Committee, stated that the nursing home is located upstream of the Miyun Reservoir. On the day of the incident, there were 77 people in total, including 8 staff members and 69 elderly residents, of which 55 were disabled or semi-disabled.
Yu Weiguo mentioned that the contingency plan did not include the area where the nursing home is located as an evacuation zone, indicating a flaw in the plan.
In a previous report, on July 27, at least 9 reservoirs in Beijing’s Miyun, Huairou, and Pinggu simultaneously discharged floods, causing 352 mountainous torrents to be completely blocked.
Staff at the Miyun Reservoir explained to local media that the flood discharge rate increased from 80 cubic meters per second to 200 cubic meters per second, reaching 400 cubic meters per second by 4 p.m.
However, the authorities did not provide prior notification of the reservoir discharges.
A resident named Fu from the Taishitun town nursing care center told China Youth Daily on July 31 that on the morning of July 28 around 6 a.m., the water rushed in flooding everything. With the help of caregivers, he managed to escape through a window and stood on the roof for three hours until the firefighters came to rescue him.
According to a report by Caixin, after the floodwaters receded, journalists who entered the Taishitun town nursing care center found watermarks left by the flood exceeding the height of the wardrobes by over two meters. Photos showed a clear mud handprint on the wall of the nursing home, suspected to be the last struggle of a victim.
A local pig farmer shared a video, stating that the water near his home reached a depth of one and a half meters, drowning the smaller pigs and washing them away. He questioned the authorities in the video, asking why there was no advance warning of the flooding from the reservoir. He expressed frustration at the losses incurred, both in terms of livestock and feed.
Many netizens expressed their opinions, criticizing the lack of accountability and responsibility on authorities. Questions were raised regarding the management of such disasters and the failure to act on early warnings to ensure the safety of vulnerable populations. The tragedy prompted reflections on the balance between natural disasters and man-made calamities, as well as the need for proper emergency response protocols to safeguard the lives of citizens.