Beijing goes into red alert for rainstorms
As heavy rainfalls hit Beijing, China's capital is under a red alert for rainstorms on Sunday, with the city maintaining its highest emergency response for flooding and encouraging its residents to work from home, according to local authorities.
Beijing Meteorological Service issued a red alert, the country's highest alert level for rainstorms, at 5: 30 pm on Saturday. It said from Saturday night to Tuesday night, the city will be lashed by heavy downpours with its western and southern areas hit by extraordinary rainstorms.
The city's flood control headquarters issued a Level I emergency response on 7 pm on Saturday and demanded all scenic spots and parks in Beijing should be closed down to avoid any incident.
China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most urgent response.
Neighboring Hebei province renewed its red alert for rainstorms at around 8 am on Sunday. According to the province's meteorological service, several cities including Shijiazhuang, Langfang and Baoding will see extraordinary rainstorms from Sunday to Monday, as the accumulated precipitation in some places could top 600 millimetres.
Apart from Beijing municipality and Hebei province, other places in the country including Tianjin, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Yunnan are also forecast to be hit by heavy downpours and rainstorms from 8 pm on Saturday to 8 pm on Sunday, according to China's National Meteorological Center.
The centre issued a red alert for rainstorms on Saturday evening, as heavy downpours are expected to lash multiple regions.
Over 880,000 residents of Fujian affected by Typhoon Doksuri
More than 880,000 residents of east China's Fujian Province have been affected by Typhoon Doksuri, which made landfall in the province on Friday morning.
Typhoon Doksuri landed on the coast of Jinjiang City at 9:55 a.m. on Friday, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain. It moved to Jiangxi Province on Friday night, where it gradually weakened into a tropical storm.
The Fujian provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters on Saturday said that, as of 8:00 a.m. Saturday, 354,400 people have been evacuated and 146,200 people have been relocated to safer areas.
More than 6,333 hectares of farmlands in Fujian have been affected, with over 151 hectares suffering complete crop failure. A total of 44 houses have collapsed and 178 houses have been severely damaged, with direct economic losses totalling 428 million yuan (about US$59.99 million).
Official meteorological forecasts show that heavy rainfall will continue in many parts of Fujian. Six local observation stations have recorded their highest daily precipitation figures since 1961.
The provincial meteorological bureau has issued warnings for possible secondary disasters such as mountain torrents, mudslides, landslides, and urban and rural waterlogging in its coastal cities and northern regions, including Putian, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Ningde.
Zhang Yu in Shijiazhuang and Du Juan in Beijing
China Daily
Xinhua
Asia News Network
