China Focus: Alerts issued as China braces for heavy rainfall, flooding

BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Seasonal rainfall during this summer has affected many parts of China, prompting local authorities to beef up flood control and rescue efforts.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, central China's Henan Province issued a red alert for rainstorms, the highest level in the country's four-tier weather warning system, according to the province's meteorological observatory.

From Monday to Tuesday morning, heavy downpours lashed many parts of the province, with a maximum precipitation of 638.5 mm recorded in Sheqi County.

The meteorological observatory forecasted that from 9 a.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday, heavy rainfall would continue in some areas of the province, accompanied by strong convective weather, including thunderstorms and gales.

On Tuesday, a Level I emergency response for flood control was activated in the city of Nanyang, while a Level III emergency response for flood control was issued in other nine cities including Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, according to the province's flood control and drought relief headquarters.

As of 10 p.m. Monday, 382 teams had been dispatched to Nanyang for drainage and rescue work, and 6,417 residents had been relocated.

Relevant provincial departments also issued a high-risk warning for farmland waterlogging and flooding disasters on Tuesday, and have adopted a range of defensive measures to ensure effective drainage and the preservation of crop health.

In northwest China's Gansu Province, multiple provincial departments jointly issued a yellow alert for mountain torrents, an orange alert for geological disasters and a Level Ⅳ emergency response for heavy rainfall on Tuesday, as the province is expected to see rainstorms from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Due to increased water discharge from the upstream Three Gorges Reservoir, the water level of Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake located in Hunan Province, is rising again, posing a significant challenge to flood prevention efforts.

Since mid-June, Hunan has endured intense rainfall, leading to a sharp rise in water levels in Dongting Lake and significantly increasing flood control pressure.

Rescue personnel successfully sealed a 226-meter breach in a dike at Dongting Lake on July 8. The breach, caused by torrential rains, prompted the evacuation of over 7,000 residents after the dike burst.

Due to heavy rainfall in parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province, some trains passing through the province will be delayed, returned, or suspended from Tuesday to Thursday, according to local railway authorities.

Heavy rain is forecast to batter the southern part of Shandong Province between Tuesday night and Thursday morning. In response, the provincial authorities issued meteorological alerts for geological disasters and mountain torrents on Tuesday.

China's meteorological and water resources authorities issued a warning of impending mountain torrents in some regions at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

According to an orange alert issued by the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration, mountain torrents are expected to occur in parts of Shaanxi and Gansu between 8 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The two departments also issued a yellow alert for mountain torrents in parts of Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Henan, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.

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. ■