Swathes of northern China have endured deadly rains and floods this week that killed at least 48 people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands.

As clean-up efforts began on Wednesday, AFP journalists visited the northern Beijing district of Huairou -- one of the worst-hit areas less than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the bustling city centre.

In Anzhouba village, muddy waters had receded, exposing scraps of metal and broken branches.

Local Hu recounted a frantic call to her stepdaughter, 23, who was home with her parents when the waters struck on Saturday night.

"But before I could finish my words, the call dropped," she told AFP.

She later found out that rushing water from the river around 10 metres away had flooded the house and blocked the front door.

Her daughter was forced to kick out the window and evacuate her grandparents to the neighbour's balcony, dragging her disabled grandfather as his wife pushed from below.

"I've never seen this before, in all my 40 years of life. Neither have those who've lived 80 or 90 years," she said.

"I returned today to retrieve his medicine, but the water swept it all away."

- 'It's all gone' -

Wearing slippers, she marched over downed powerlines and debris from broken fences and destroyed cars as she surveyed the damage to the village where she has lived her entire life.

Mud with streaks of silt caked her walls -- evidence that the flood waters had reached at least over a metre high.

"I've already lived here for many years -- my parents have lived here for almost 70 years, I've lived here for 40 -- I can't bear to leave."

A small blue sofa near the front door had washed out into the alley.

The family of six subsists off 2,000 ($278) to 3,000 yuan a month, Hu -- a stay-at-home carer whose husband works as a labourer -- said.

They grow their own vegetables -- from green beans, cucumbers, potatoes -- but the field has been destroyed.

"It's gone. All gone, flushed away," she said.

- 'Unlivable' -

In Liulimiao town, which covers Anzhouba village, AFP journalists saw evacuations taking place throughout Wednesday, with elderly villagers driven by bus from their mountainous homes.

An older woman who declined to give her name said she was "not allowed" to return home but had gone back anyway to check in.

When the floods hit, she said, "there was nobody paying attention to us", adding the water hit "suddenly" on Saturday.

Another villager, surnamed Wang, gazed at the destruction to his home which he built with government subsidies 15 years ago.

He estimated his losses to be around 100,000 yuan ($14,000).

His wife and two daughters were home and unable to open the doors when the waters "suddenly rose".

The waters reached 1.5 metres (five feet), leaving brown muddy residue on the wall and a mounted TV.

Their car, which Wang bought so his daughter could practice driving, was washed uphill from outside of their home.

Five more minutes of flooding might have put his family's life in danger, he said.

"It didn't give people a chance," Wang said.

His home was now "unlivable", he explained tearfully.

"We've become wards of the state," he said. "My heart feels very bad."