Official says ‘contingency plan had flaws’ as torrential rains, floods kill 31 people at senior centre near Beijing.Torrential rains and flooding across northern China have killed dozens of people, authorities say, including more than 30 elderly residents who were trapped at a care facility in a suburb of the capital Beijing.Officials said on Thursday that 31 people died at the Taishitun Town Elderly Care Center in the Miyun district, about a 90-minute drive from central Beijing, which was one of the areas hit hardest by this week’s storms.“For a long time, this senior centre was in the town’s centre and was safe, and such was not included in the preparedness plans,” said Yu Weiguo, the Communist Party secretary for Miyun, expressing his condolences and adding it was a “bitter lesson”.“This showed that our contingency plan had flaws, and our understanding of extreme weather was inadequate,” Yu said.The care centre housed 69 residents, including 55 who were disabled in some capacity. The facility sat on low-lying ground near a river that had flooded after the unusually intense rains, local media outlet Caixin reported.Torrential rains began a week ago and peaked around Beijing and its surrounding provinces on Monday.In the space of a few days, the hilly Miyun district in the northeast of the capital saw rainfall of up to 573.5mm (22.6 inches). By comparison, the average annual precipitation in Beijing is around 600mm (23.6 inches).The Miyun Reservoir, the largest in northern China, saw record-breaking water levels during the rains.The Qingshui R …
