北京市政府有关部门警告周三晚上可能出现的暴雨最终并没有落下，但北京市政府处理上周末那场洪灾的方式却继续受到暴雨般越来越猛烈的批评。
REUTERS北京房山区瓦井村的居民在暴雨过后坐在瓦砾和毁坏的汽车前。最让民众感到愤怒的是，自周日晚上公布死亡人数为37人以来，北京市政府一直拒绝更新因洪灾死亡的人数。
周四，中共官方报纸《人民日报》也加入到批评者的队伍中来。在一篇标题为《伤亡人数不是“敏感话题”》的评论文章中，该报评论员因北京市政府的沉默而对其提出批评。评论说：从发现死者到确认身份需要一套程序，但是否可以先报死亡人数，再报死者身份？
这篇评论暗示说，除非北京提高透明度，否则将面临失去民心的风险。评论说，相对于“负面消息”，人们更关注的是政府对待“负面消息”的态度。
记者无法联系北京市政府新闻发言人置评。
由于缺乏信息，部分中国民众开始根据传统媒体和社交媒体的报道自行编制伤亡名单。
但激起民众不满的不只是北京市政府的沉默，试图压制他人发出声音的做法也令社会异常不满。
周四上午，在《南方周末》记者抱怨说审查机构毙掉了该报有关北京洪灾八个版面的报道后，社交媒体上充斥着一片批评的声音。《南方周末》总社位于广州，是一份不断推进边界线的周报。
《南方周末》记者张育群在其新浪微博上写道（这条微博后来被删）：7个同事。在北京跑了超过2000公里。采访了24个死难者家属。昨天写完稿就趴床上睡觉了。早上醒来看到消息。只想说2000遍。草尼玛。
相关报道一位新浪微博用户写道：某些人在害怕什么？太软弱了。
引发更大争议的是，中共党员、地产大亨任志强的新浪微博周四一度被禁声。任志强曾多次对北京市政府处理此次洪灾的做法提出尖锐批评。
任志强是中国共产党内最坦率直言的批评者之一，在新浪微博上有超过900万粉丝。他在微博里说，审查者努力让他软化态度，还说他甚至曾被“邀请喝茶”，这是对被政府有关部门约谈的委婉说法。这些微博后来被删。
任志强无法继续使用微博的消息周四上午在新浪微博上引发强烈不满，几位名人都站到任志强这边，对他表示支持。
中国金融博物馆理事长王巍在发给150万粉丝的一条微博里警告说，如果连@任志强这样一个优秀的共产党员也被禁言,我们这个社会就到了非常危险的地步了。知名经济学家许小年在回应王巍这条微博时许诺称，如果不恢复任志强的账户，他亦将停用微博。
个性鲜明的媒体人物洪晃也站出来为任志强说话。她敦促其500多万名粉丝找出任志强以前的微博进行转发。洪晃写道：关于这个体制，我一直觉得已经开始自食了，就是自动清理掉体制内任何有良心说实话的人。
这些压力似乎起了作用。到周四上午11点30分，任志强又开始发微博了。他写道：新浪定了几条纪律之后，对我解禁了。
新浪没有立即回复要求就任志强账户问题置评的请求。
此外，周三夜间那场没有露面的雨给了市民另一个批评北京市有关部门的理由。
周三中午前后，北京市气象部门发出了暴雨“蓝色”预警，这表明12小时内降雨量将达50毫米以上。中国官方媒体新华社报道称，因没有向市民就上周六暴雨发出充足警告而挨批后，北京市政府在周三上午8点之前就通过手机短信向1,170万市民发出了暴雨警告。
这次警告起到了预期效果：平常车水马龙的地方(包括24小时不打烊的知名小吃街簋街)几乎空无一人，人们都提早下班，在家中避雨。
但这些准备工作都白做了。接近周三午夜时分，北京市气象局最终撤销了暴雨警告。
一位网友在北京市气象局的微博页面上留言：不要制造谣言，不要轻信谣言，更不要散布谣言。这是中国政府告诫民众的一句话，这位网友用这句话以其人之道还治其人之身。
（编者注：北京市政府周四晚间已经公布了新的暴雨死亡人数，从之前的37人增加到77人。）
The downpour Beijing municipal authorities warned would hit on Wednesday night never materialized. Instead, the city government continued to be buffeted by increasingly fierce storm of criticism over its handling of last weekend＊s floods.
Top of the list of public grievances: The Beijing government＊s persistent refusal to update the death toll from the floods, pegged at 37 since Sunday evening.
On Thursday, no less a voice than Communist Party mouthpiece newspaper People＊s Daily joined the chorus of critics, taking the city to task for its reticence in a commentary that ran under the headline ※Casualty Numbers Are Not a ＆Sensitive Topic.＊§ It may take time to verify the identities of the deceased, the paper said, ※but is it not possible to first publish a death toll and report identities later?§
The paper suggested Beijing risked losing the people＊s hearts unless it embraced transparency. ※People are paying less attention to ＆negative news＊ and more attention to how the government deals with ＆negative news,＊§ it said.
The Beijing municipal government spokeswoman couldn＊t be reached for comment.
Frustration with the lack of information has let some Chinese people to begin compiling their own lists of casualties based on reports from traditional and social media.
But it＊s not just the Beijing government＊s silence that＊s stirring discontent: Attempts to silence others are also fueling outrage.
Criticism spread through social media Thursday morning after reporters at Southern Weekend, a boundary-pushing weekly based in the southern city of Guangzhou, complained that censors had killed eight pages＊ worth of reports on the Beijing floods.
※Seven colleagues. Trekked more than 2000 kilometers to Beijing. Interviewed the families of 24 victims,§ Southern Weekend reporter Zhang Yuqun wrote on Sina Corp.＊s Weibo microblogging service in a post that was later deleted. ※Yesterday, as soon as the stories were written, I climbed into bed and fell asleep. In the morning, I woke up to see the news. I want to say it 2000 times: F岸 your mother.§
※What are certain people afraid of?帝? Too weak-hearted,§ protested a Sina Weibo user posting under the name 7 Hornbills.
Even more controversial was Sina＊s temporary suspension on Thursday of the Weibo account belonging to real-estate mogul and Communist Party member Ren Zhiqiang, who had been sharply criticized Beijing＊s handling of the floods an numerous occasions.
One of the party＊s most outspoken internal critics, Mr. Ren boasts more than nine million followers on Sina Weibo. In posts that were later deleted, he documented censors＊ efforts to get him to soften his stance, saying at one point that he had been ※invited for tea,§ a euphemism for being visited by authorities.
News that he was no longer able to use his account prompted AN outcry on the site on Thursday morning as several high-profile supporters rallied to his side.
※If an extraordinary party member like Ren Zhiqiang has been forbidden to speak out, our society has come to a very dangerous place,§ warned Wang Wei, director of the Chinese Museum of Finance, in a Weibo post sent out to his 1.5 million followers. Responding to Mr. Wang, prominent economist Xu Xiaonian vowed to quit using the service if Mr. Ren＊s account was not reinstated.
Also coming to Mr. Ren＊s defense was media mega-personality Hong Huang, who urged her more than five million followers to find and republish all of their favorite posts from Mr. Ren. ※As far as this system goes, I＊ve felt for a long time that it＊s already started to eat itself,§ she wrote. ※It automatically eliminates any people inside it that speak with a conscience.§
The pressure appeared to work. By 11:30 a.m., Mr. Ren was posting again. ※After laying down a few new rules, Sina has unblocked me,§ he wrote.
Sina did not immediately respond to request for comment about the circumstances surrounding Mr. Ren＊s account.
Meanwhile, the non-appearance of Wednesday night＊s storm provided residents with yet another reason to lop criticism at Beijing authorities.
The city＊s meteorological department had issued a ※blue§-level weather alert around noon on Wednesday, indicating two or more inches of rain over 12 hours. After being criticized for failing to give residents adequate warning ahead of Saturday＊s storm, the government sent warning text messages to 11.7 million people before 8 p.m., according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The warnings had the desired effect: Normally busy areas, including the famous Guijie 24-hour eating street, were nearly empty as residents left work early to take shelter inside their homes.
But it was all for naught, and the meteorological bureau finally rescinded its warning just before midnight.
※Don＊t create rumors, don＊t believe rumors, don＊t spread rumors,§ one user wrote on the bureau＊s Weibo page, chastising the government with one of it＊s own exhortations.