China Focus: China issues alerts for flooding amid summer heat

BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- While the summer heat continues to bake many parts of China, rainstorms are forecast to sweep through some provincial-level regions in the country, prompting multiple alerts for possible flooding.

From Monday evening to Tuesday evening, downpours will hit parts of Beijing, according to the municipal meteorological authorities. In response, Beijing issued alerts for rainstorms, geological disasters and flooding.

At 1 p.m. Monday, the Beijing Water Authority activated a Level-IV emergency flood response, and the municipal meteorological authorities warned that the city might experience mountain torrents, mudslides and landslides in its mountainous suburb regions.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency-response system, with Level I being the most severe response as well as a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Relevant departments have been advised to strengthen real-time monitoring and flood warnings.

Central China's Henan Province has activated a Level-IV emergency response to possible flooding in its 10 cities on Monday noon, with rainstorms expected in areas including the provincial capital Zhengzhou, said the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

At 9:30 a.m. Monday, the Henan provincial meteorological observatory issued a yellow alert for rainstorms. The observatory predicted heavy downpours or rainstorms to hit parts of Henan, including Zhengzhou.

A round of strong precipitation also began to batter east China's Shandong Province Monday evening, prompting alerts for geological disasters and mountain torrents.

The rainfall, which is predicted to last until late Tuesday, is expected to deliver the province a cumulative average precipitation of 30 mm to 50 mm, accompanied by thunderstorms and gusts measuring up to 28 meters per second in the worst-hit areas.

China's national observatory issued an orange alert for rainstorms at 6 p.m. Monday indicating that heavy rainfall is expected in several regions of the country.

From 8 p.m. Monday to 8 p.m. Tuesday, downpours are expected to hit parts of Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing and Hainan, it added.