Shanghai is bracing for heavy rain from a tropical storm that’s tracking toward China’s financial hub, a day after flooding killed at least 30 people in Beijing and cut power to villages.
The heaviest precipitation in Shanghai is forecast to occur on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with some places potentially receiving 220 millimeters (8.7 inches), according to the national weather service. The storm, which struck the Philippines last week, will move past Zhoushan to the south of the mega-city — home to some of China’s largest oil storage tanks and refineries.
The torrential downpour that soaked Beijing on Monday led to more than 80,000 people being relocated, according to state-broadcaster China Central Television, which reported the casualties. Another four deaths were reported in neighboring Hebei province due to a landslide caused by heavy rains.
Beijing’s deadly flooding is the latest in a recent string of extreme weather events that have caused casualties around the world. Earlier this month, heavy rain in Texas claimed more than 130 lives, while torrential precipitation across Pakistan since June has led to over 200 fatalities. And last October, floods in Valencia killed more than 220 people across the Spanish region.
According to state media, one district of Beijing recorded 543.4 millimeters of rain between Thursday and midnight on Monday. The Chinese capital typically averages around 580 millimeters annually, indicating that some areas of the city got nearly a year’s worth of precipitation in the past few days.
Premier Li Qiang said rain and flooding in Beijing’s suburban district of Miyun had resulted in significant casualties, according to Xinhua News Agency. Twenty eight people died in the district, CCTV reported.
Rains are expected to ease in Beijing, but Shanghai is set for a drenching. Storm Co-may was 425 kilometers (264 miles) from Zhejiang province early on Tuesday, and the system is expected to strengthen slightly as it tracks closer to the coast, according to the national weather bureau.
The storm is predicted to make landfall around Shanghai, or to the city’s south on Wednesday, and it may linger and bring prolonged wind and rain, the state forecaster said. A slow-moving system risks serious flooding.
In the first half of 2025, China recorded 54.11 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in losses from natural disasters, much of it from floods, according to figures from the national emergency response agency reported by state media.
The adverse weather has caused flight delays and cancellations in airports across Beijing, Shanghai, and Ningbo. The downpours began over the weekend, shutting major tourist sites and suspending public transport services.
Top photo: Submerged residential buildings after heavy rains on the outskirts of Beijing on July 28. Photographer: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images.
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
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