Beijing shuts train lines as rain arrives in China’s north

Chinese authorities have placed the country’s northern region on high alert for heavy rain since late July 15, and agencies have taken measures to counter the impact of heavy rainfall that is moving northwards towards the Sichuan Basin and areas north of the Huai River, said state media Xinhua.

Provincial authorities in central Henan province announced the highest emergency response for flood control in the city of Nanyang on early July 16 to contend with the severe flooding, local media reported. The city sits astride the Bai River, a tributary of the Han River.

Also, in Henan, the weather observatory in the city of Shangqiu raised its warning for heavy rain to the highest.

The region where Henan, Shandong and Anhui provinces meet will see particularly heavy rainfall between late July 15 and late July 16, according to forecasts.

In China’s north-western province of Gansu, Kang county flagged a red alert for rain and warnings of mountain floods and urban flooding as towns were lashed by heavy downpours, with some areas hitting a cumulative precipitation of more than 100mm.

In the south, a resurgence of flood waters along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, China’s longest river, has pushed the areas of the river’s drainage basin into a critical period of flood control on July 16, Xinhua said.

The authorities have been monitoring and adjusting water discharge from the Three Gorges Dam, which sits on the Yangtze, to help reduce flood-control pressures in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and other provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the river.

In June, torrential rain, flash floods and landslidesacross southern China forced the authorities to step up emergency plans, as surging waters from swollen rivers threatened to disrupt the lives of millions.