More than 1½ million people in the Chinese province of Hebei have abandoned their homes to avoid rising floodwaters as record rainfall carves a trail of destruction through the country's north.
State news agency Xinhua said on Saturday that about 960,000 of the 1.54 million people relocated in the province neighbouring Beijing were from flood control zones.
Hebei has shouldered a heavy burden to protect the capital, opening up flood control zones along waterways to drain the deluge from Beijing.
Residents in those zones had to move to higher ground as Hebei Communist Party boss Ni Yuefeng committed the province to becoming the capital's "moat".
Since making landfall more than a week ago, former typhoon Doksuri has dumped record amounts of rain on Beijing and surrounding areas, leading to widespread floods.
While the flooding in Hebei province eased on Saturday, the remnants of the storm were being felt to the northeast.
Alarms were sounded for water levels in 25 rivers in Heilongjiang province and the two county-level cities of Wuchang and Shangzhi reported serious flooding, with residents trapped and homes and bridges damaged, according to Xinhua.
The Ministry of Emergency Management sent a team to the province to assess conditions and the People's Liberation Army's Northern Theatre Command set up a centre to coordinate rescue efforts.
In Shulan, a county-level city in neighbouring Jilin province, at least one person died and four were missing, including the city's executive vice mayor who was directing flood containment operations, according to a news portal affiliated to Chongqing Daily.
Neighbouring Liaoning province was also on high alert, covered by a weather warning in effect for much of the country.
In the 24 hours until 2pm on Sunday, thunderstorms, strong winds and hail were forecast to sweep parts of Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, according to the National Meteorological Centre.
So far though, Hebei remains the hardest hit, with at least 20 people killed.
In the city of Baoding alone, 10 people had died and 18 were missing by noon Saturday.
Beijing was also dealt a heavy blow, with at least 11 dying as the rainstorm turned hundreds of roads into rivers, flooded Daxing International Airport and cut links to some outlying areas.
The authorities said communication had been restored to all suburban areas in the capital but the risk of landslides remained high.
In all, Doksuri is estimated to have caused 14.7 billion yuan (US$2 billion) in direct economic losses since landing in Fujian province on July 28. About 2.91 million people were affected in Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Guangdong.
Meanwhile, the authorities said the direct economic losses from various natural disasters last month amounted to 41 billion yuan. A total of 147 people were killed or went missing.