Power resumed in all rainstorm-hit villages in Beijing

BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Power and communication services have been restored in all disaster-affected administrative villages across Beijing following severe rainstorms, while search and rescue operations for the missing are still underway, the municipal emergency management bureau said on Saturday.

Several rounds of intense rainstorms from July 23 to 29 have resulted in 44 fatalities in the national capital, with nine people still reported missing, according to a press conference held on Thursday.

By Saturday morning, water supply issues in the disaster-hit areas had been fully resolved, the emergency management bureau said.

The heavy rainfall was concentrated in the northern mountainous areas, where infrastructure in 40 townships and 312 administrative villages sustained severe damage, affecting more than 300,000 residents and destroying around 24,000 homes.

In the hardest-hit Miyun and Huairou districts, communication has been restored in all 190 administrative villages through emergency repairs, satellite phones and other contingency measures.

The number of resettlement sites in Beijing's Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Shijingshan, Mentougou, Fangshan, Changping and Daxing districts has continued to decrease as relocated residents return home following safety assessments of their houses.

As of Friday noon, 10,876 residents from seven districts remain accommodated at 155 resettlement sites across the city. Compared with the peak, the number of evacuees has decreased by over 90,000, while the number of resettlement sites has been reduced by 669. ■