On Saturday, the heaviest
rain in 60 years overwhelmed Beijing's drainage system, submerging
cars, houses and provoking online anger over the government's lack of
preparation and response.
Early Wednesday, it
appeared that the disaster may have claimed the jobs of two of the
city's most senior officials. However, neither resignation of the
Beijing mayor or vice mayor were officially linked to the flood
response.
In fact, observers said
the resignations could be part of routine leadership reshuffle. Media
reports said the city's legislature is now in session and its agenda
includes appointments and dismissals.
Workers battle floods to rescue man
However, soon after state media reported the resignation of Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong and vice mayor Ji Lin, comments about their departure on China's Sina Weibo were being blocked and deleted.
Anger over Beijing's flooding response
State media gave no
reason for the resignation of vice mayor Ji Lin. However, it said mayor
Guo Jinlong had stepped down following his election as secretary of the
Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on
July 3.
China flooding after heavy rains
Wang Anshun, the vice Party chief of Beijing, has been appointed as vice mayor and acting mayor, Xinhua said.
The departure of two of
Beijing's most senior officials comes just four days after the heaviest
rain in 60 years submerged large parts of the Chinese capital.
On Sunday, state media
put the official death toll in Beijing at 37. However, amid the barrage
of online criticism about the government's response to the disaster,
speculation swirled that the figure could be much higher.
Across the country, 111 were declared dead and 47 missing. Nine million people had been affected, state media said.
On Tuesday, spokeswoman
Wang Hui told reporters that the government was not concealing the true
death toll and that updated figures would be released as soon as they're
known.
"I want to say I hope
everyone will not speculate that the Beijing government is hiding the
death toll," said Wang, according to the Associated Press.
"Doing the inspection
work is not easy. Do believe us that we will speak the truth," she said.
"If there are new figures we will immediately tell you."
In the immediate
aftermath of the disaster, comments on Weibo exposed the anger many
Beijingers felt about the inability of their city's infrastructure to
cope with the downpour.
The Beijing-based media
group, Caixin wrote: "Why is this happening once and again? Year after
year Beijing faces the same challenge, not even hosting the Olympics can
provide a solution. That's how vulnerable our capital city can be."
Another user,
chuntiangushi, wrote: "We can host the most luxurious Olympics and send
satellites into space but can never seem to fix this drainage system.
What a shame.
Others were angry that there were no emergency warnings, nor government shelters or special hotlines to offer flood advice.
Their ire was further stirred by an announcement Tuesday that Beijing would launch a "large" fundraising campaign, to which local citizens would be encouraged to donate for disaster relief.
"Donation again? I won't
give them a penny. I'm already pay tax. What did you do with my money?"
one user wrote. Another said: "Chinese government is wealthy enough to
help Africa, the Philippines and North Korea but they don't have the
money to help its own people get over the disaster."
More rain was forecast
to hit Beijing late Wednesday to Thursday morning, Xinhua reported,
adding that more than 50 millimeters of rain could fall on the eastern
parts of the city.
A yellow alert -- the
third highest on a scale of five -- had been issued for the districts of
Fangshan, Mentougou, Huairou, Pinggu and Shijingshan, as well as Miyun
county, which are at risk of mudslides and cave-ins, Xinhua said.
Saturday's downpour
caused chaos across Beijing, submerging 84 cars along a 900-meter
stretch of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau expressway. The road reopened to
traffic around midday Tuesday after hundreds of rescuers spent two days
pulling the cars out.
A team of 10 divers
worked for 10 hours straight to check the cars for occupants, Xinhua
said, adding that they found three bodies.
Disaster relief efforts
were still underway in the worst hit district of Fangshan Wednesday,
according to state media Xinhua, which published images of upturned cars
and mud-soaked homes.
Sumber : CNN
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