This photo shows a car in floodwater in Zhuozhou, North China's Hebei province on Aug 2, 2023. (ZHANG YU / CHINA DAILY)

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions has donated HK$500,000 ($64,000) to schools and dormitories flooded in Hebei province after typhoon Doksuri brought record-breaking downpours to China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, flooding homes and making tens of thousands of people homeless, and washing away cars and other vehicles.

Doksuri is one of the strongest cyclones to have hit China in years, bringing downpours and causing widespread flooding after landing in Fujian before moving into northern China. 

The flooding has resulted in a significant number of casualties in some areas, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and dozens of people have died or gone missing. Beijing said it recorded 744.8mm of rainfall between Saturday and Wednesday — the most rainfall recorded in 140 years, since records first began.

In a statement, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions said the downpour and flooding in Hebei has pulled at the heartstrings of Hong Kong people, as tens of thousands of local people in the Hebei region have been impacted and many schools, dormitories and libraries have been inundated by the floods, trapping students and faculty staff

In Hebei, the amount of rainfall has exceeded that which is typically recorded in a whole year.

The donation, allocated from the HKFTU's disaster relief and charity fund, will be handed to the Chinese University of Labor Relations soon, and will be used to provide timely and appropriate help to schools in the affected areas. 

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HKFTU, the city’s largest labor union, also initiated a fundraising campaign to help Hebei province.

On Thursday, Ng Chau-pei, president of HKFTU, Chan Tang-yuen, vice-president, and Tsang Chi-man, vice-chairman, handed over the donation to He Jing, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.

In a statement, the union said the downpour and flooding in Hebei has pulled at the heartstrings of Hong Kong people, as tens of thousands of local people in the Hebei region have been impacted and many schools, dormitories and libraries have been inundated by the floods, trapping students and faculty staff.

The union is greatly concerned about the situation in Hebei, especially with regards to the schools that have been hardest hit by the flood, according to the statement.

READ MORE: Over 880,000 residents of Fujian affected by Typhoon Doksuri

The union also called on Hong Kong people to chip in and lend a helping hand to those in distress in the typhoon-hit areas on the mainland.