Miyun (China) (AFP) - Torrential rain soaking northern China triggered a deadly landslide, burst riverbanks and washed away cars on Monday, with thousands of people forced to evacuate the days-long deluge.

In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde killed four people, with eight still missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Late Monday, provincial officials forecast more flooding along the Luanhe and Beisanhe river systems, and issued red alerts – the highest warning level – in 15 counties, Xinhua reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities to plan for worst-case scenarios and to rush relocation of residents of flood-threatened areas.

“Emergency response must be activated and carried out at the earliest possible moment to fully protect people’s lives and property,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Rescuers plucked flood victims and their pets from an inundated compound in Beijing’s Miyun district, where more than 4,000 people have been evacuated.

Firefighters also rescued 48 people trapped in an elderly care centre, CCTV reported.

The capital is under the highest level warning for floods and second-highest for rain, with the storm expected to last into Tuesday morning.

“I’ve never seen so much water before,” Cui Xueji, 67, a lifelong resident of the village of Taishitun, told AFP.

“We did some preparations, but we had no idea that there would be this much,” he said, wading through water in flip-flops.

In Fuping County, more than 4,600 people were evacuated over the weekend while in neighbouring Shanxi province one person was rescued and 13 were missing after a bus accident, state media said.

Footage from the state broadcaster showed roads and a field submerged in rushing water.

- Gushing floods -

A Miyun district resident surnamed Liu said he watched floodwater sweep away vehicles early Monday morning.

AFP journalists saw a crawler lift people and a dog out of the 64-year-old’s compound as rescuers waded through water up to their knees.

Nearby, in the town of Mujiayu, AFP journalists saw a reservoir release a torrent of water.

Power lines were swept away by muddy currents while military vehicles and ambulances ploughed flooded streets.

A river burst its banks, sweeping away trees, and agricultural fields were swamped.

Some roads were badly damaged, with chunks of exposed concrete scattered across lanes and twisted guardrails lining their sides.

Low-rise houses in the mountainous area, though mostly intact, were surrounded by gushing floods.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 50 million yuan ($7 million) to assist relief efforts in Hebei, with the funds going to post-disaster emergency recovery and construction of infrastructure, the Xinhua news agency said.

- Extreme weather -

Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat waves.

China is the world’s biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense.

But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.

Flash floods in the eastern Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month.

A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.