Beijing experiences heaviest rainfall in 140 years as Typhoon Doksuri floods continue to cause significant damage

Extreme rain battered Beijing, Tianjin and the province of Hebei in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri in late July, causing widespread flooding and damage in a region the size of Britain. Key points: A reservoir in Beijing's Changping district logged 744.8 millimetres of rain between Saturday and Wednesday Hundreds of flights were either delayed or cancelled at the city's two major airports The most amount of rainfall last recorded in Beijing was 609mm in 1891 The storms, which have killed at least 20 people and led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of residents, were the worst to hit China in more than a decade, with Beijing experiencing its heaviest rainfall in 140 years. A reservoir in Beijing's Changping district logged a precipitation reading of 744.8 millimetres between Saturday and Wednesday, the most in the city in more than 140 years and far exceeding the previous record of 609mm set in 1891. As the residual circulation of Doksuri's rain clouds headed north, a subtropical and continental high pressure system in the atmosphere also blocked their north and eastward passage, leading to the continuing convergence of water vapour that acted like a dam, the meteorologists say.