Reuters在北京郊外的房山区，一艘救援船在一条被淹没的路段上。
在北京周末致命洪灾造成破坏之后，政府饱受批评，一些人对官方死亡统计数字也表示质疑。

周六北京市遭遇60年来最大暴雨，据官方媒体报道，暴雨带来的洪灾造成了超过100亿元（合16亿美元）的损失。截至周一夜间，官方的洪灾因灾死亡人数仍为37人，与周日一样。

Josh Chin / The Wall Street Journal 一位李（音）姓男子在检查一辆白色小轿车，他哥哥被淹死在车里。对于一座以世界级基础设施为荣的城市来说，这么高的数字让很多人感到不可思议。但考虑到市中心以外某些地区的损失程度，以及一些网民对中国灾害统计数据真实性的持续怀疑，一些人仍然猜想，实际死亡人数可能更高。

市中心在周一似乎已经基本恢复正常，但同一天在南郊受损严重的房山区，某些地方一时仍然难以恢复。

北京市中心西南方向约60公里处的周口店镇上方的山区，多座桥梁被洪水冲走，长长的路段被淹没，原先干涸的河床变成了一条充满浮沫的河流、混凝土块散落其中，死猪和至少七辆遭到毁坏的汽车外壳。网上流传的照片显示邻近村镇也遭到同样破坏，甚至还更严重。

在拴马庄村，一位站在马路边的李（音）姓男子说，死亡人数肯定高于37人。他的旁边是一辆白色小轿车，已经被洪水冲得变了形。这位拒绝透露名字的男子说，他被叫到拴马庄去辨认哥哥的遗体。遗体是警方在周一下午将轿车从水中拖出的时候发现的。

相关报道
在李姓男子指向警察锯开金属结构取出其兄长遗体的地方时，一位站在旁边的友人也对官方数字提出质疑。他说，政府说有37人死亡，或许更像是370人死亡。

沿着马路不远处，王金磊（音）正在请求人们帮他寻找25岁的侄子。他之前发现侄子的微型面包车被抛弃在山上更高处。来自河北省涞水县的王金磊在请求一支挖掘队帮他寻找侄子的时候说，我们家十几口人都出来找他，四处都找遍了。

在死亡人数受到质疑的时候，北京市政府已经饱受市民和网民的批评。他们在问，一座为2008年奥运会斥巨资建设各类设施的城市，在应对一场暴风雨的时候怎么如此狼狈。在16个小时的时间里，北京城区降雨量达到225毫米左右。由于下水道不堪重负，很多路口积水，有些地方深达数米。

记者周一致电北京市政府新闻发言人王惠，她说自己同意网民的观点，即北京的下水道系统无力应对这场暴雨，并说市政府将努力改进。王惠说，将来我们要加强这方面的工作。

记者另外请求北京市宣传部门评论死亡人数的准确性问题，暂未获得回复。

新华社报道说，中国其他地区因暴雨死亡的人数为39人。如此看来，北京似乎是受暴雨侵袭最严重的地区。

Stringer/Reuters图片：北京暴雨致数十人身亡王惠说，微博客在上周末应急处理暴雨的过程中发挥了关键作用。但就在王惠赞扬社交媒体的时候，与洪灾有关、批评政府的微博不断消失，可能是被网络审查人员删除了。

被删微博之中，有一份大量转发的名单，列举了二十多起最近发生、死亡人数均为37人的灾难，其中有火灾，也有煤矿爆炸事故。这被用来证明一种假说：地方政府官员为免受中央政府斥责，有意将死亡人数报为低于40人。尚不清楚这个40人的门槛是否真的存在。

有关这场暴雨的争论发生在中国政府的一个敏感时期。在经济增速放缓、领导层即将换届之际，中国政府正努力维持社会稳定。

这种破坏发生在北京尤其有问题，因为在很多人看来，首都应该是全国最先进、防备最好的城市。

北京市政府试图先发制人地打消网上的批评。王惠通过新浪微博实名认证账户，发出有关人们帮助陌生人走过积水马路的信息，同时回应了网民关于警方对受困车辆贴罚单的抱怨。

她表示这些罚单将会作废。

但在很多人看来，更紧迫的问题是北京的下水道系统。每逢暴雨，北京的下水道总是不堪重负。技术和管理支持服务公司Aecom中国区环境与生态规划总监蒋明说，北京的下水道系统是依照前苏联模式建成的，主要问题是设计标准不行，然后又缺少维护和升级，让问题雪上加霜。

Beijing Faces Criticism, Doubt After Floods

 

Beijing faced criticism after the devastation of deadly floods over the weekend as well as some doubts around the official death toll.

Saturday's floods, the result of the heaviest rain the city has seen in six decades, led to more than 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in damages, state media reported. As of Monday night, the official toll of flood-related deaths remained at 37, unchanged from Sunday.

Although that number initially struck many as high for a city that prides itself on world-class infrastructure, the scale of damage in areas outside the city center, combined with persistent doubts among some Internet users about the veracity of Chinese disaster statistics, led to some speculation that the actual death toll is higher.

In contrast to the city center, which appeared almost back to normal on Monday, parts of hard-hit Fangshan district on the southern outskirts were still struggling to dig themselves out on Monday.

In the mountains above the town of Zhoukoudian, roughly 60 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing, floodwaters had washed away several bridges, taken out long stretches of road, and turned a previously dry riverbed into a frothy stream littered with chunks of concrete, dead pigs and the chewed-up husks of at least seven cars. Photos of similar or worse devastation in nearby towns circulated online.

'The death toll is definitely higher [than 37],' said a man surnamed Li who was found standing by the side of the road in Shuangma Zhuang village next to a white sedan, its shape twisted by the waters. Mr. Li, who declined to provide his given name, said he was called to Shuangma Zhuang to identify the body of his older brother, who had been discovered inside the car when police pulled it out of the water on Monday afternoon.

As Mr. Li pointed to where police had sawed through the metal to remove his brother's body, a friend standing nearby also cast doubt on the official number. 'The government says 37 died. It's probably more like 370,' he said.

A short way up the road, Wang Jinlei was pleading for help in locating his 25-year-old nephew, whose minivan he'd found abandoned higher up in the mountains. 'More than a dozen members of my family are out searching for him. We've looked everywhere,' Mr. Wang, from Laishui county in nearby Hebei province, said while trying to convince an excavation crew to help him in his search.

Skepticism surrounding the death toll comes as the Beijing city government is already fielding criticism from residents and Internet users who are asking how a city that spent billions building facilities for the 2008 Olympics could struggle so in dealing with a thunderstorm. Urban areas of Beijing were hit with roughly nine inches of rain over 16 hours, causing lakes to form at intersections─some several meters deep─as the sewers were overwhelmed.

Reached by phone Monday, the city's spokeswoman, Wang Hui, said she agreed with Internet users' comments that Beijing's sewer system wasn't equipped for the storm and said the city will work to improve it. 'We need to strengthen this area going forward,' she said.

Beijing municipal propaganda authorities didn't immediately respond to a separate request for comment about the accuracy of the death toll.

State-run Xinhua news agency put the death toll from rain storms in the rest of China at 39, which appeared to mark Beijing as the region hardest hit by floods.

Ms. Wang said microblogs played a 'crucial' role in dealing with the floods over the weekend. But even as she praised social media, flood-related posts that were critical of the government were disappearing online, the apparent victims of online censors.

Among their targets: a widely shared list of more than two dozen recent disasters, including fires and coal mine explosions, in which 37 people had died ─put forward as evidence of a theory that Chinese officials deliberately report death tolls less than 40 to avoid reprimand from central authorities. Its not clear whether any such death-toll threshold actually exists.

Controversy over the flood arrives at a sensitive time for Chinese authorities, who are trying to maintain social stability in the face of a slowing economy and looming leadership handover.

That such disruption is hitting Beijing is particularly problematic, as the capital is assumed by many to be country's most advanced and best protected city.

Beijing authorities attempted to head off criticism online, with Ms. Wang using her verified account on Sina Corp.'s Weibo microblogging service to post messages about people helping strangers cross flooded streets. She also responded to complaints that police were leaving tickets for abandoned vehicles.

'All such tickets will be made invalid,' she said.

The more pressing issue for many, however, was the city's sewer system, which consistently gets overwhelmed by heavy rainfall. 'Beijing built its sewage system based on the model of Soviet Union,' said Ming Jiang, director of environmental and ecological planning in China for Aecom, a technical and management-support services company. 'The main problem here is that the design standards were not up to scratch, which is made worse by lack of maintenance and upgrades.'