Heavy rain and high water levels of China's northeastern rivers are threatening cities downstream, prompting the evacuation of thousands. Hebei province, which surrounds the capital Beijing on three sides, issued alerts for several of its cities. The province of Heilongjiang to the north was evacuating entire villages in anticipation of life-threatening deluges. Rescue work remains underway Friday. At least 20 people were killed in Beijing's outer suburbs and another 27 were missing following the storms that quickly overwhelmed infrastructure not built to handle such deluges. Beijing usually has dry summers, but had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year that broke over the weekend with days of constant rain.
