China issues alerts for severe mountain torrents and rainstorms

China's meteorological and water resources authorities on Saturday evening issued red alerts, the most severe in its four-tier weather warning system, for mountain torrents and rainstorms in some eastern and southern regions.

According to the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration, mountain torrents are very likely to occur in parts of Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, between 8 p.m. on Saturday and 8 p.m. on Sunday.

The two departments also issued an orange alert for mountain torrents in the northwestern part of Zhejiang Province.

Temporary heavy downpours in other areas could also trigger mountain torrents, the National Meteorological Center said.

Localities have been advised to strengthen real-time monitoring and flood warnings, prepare for possible evacuations and take precautionary measures to minimize potential risks.

In a separate update on Saturday evening, the National Meteorological Center renewed a red alert for rainstorms.

Some areas in Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, Shanghai Municipality and Guangxi will expect downpours, with some regions likely to experience heavy rains of up to 260 millimeters within 24 hours until 8 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The Zijiang River in Hunan, which runs through densely populated areas, saw its third flood of 2024 and hit the alert level on Saturday night. The river has flooded three times in five days, posing increasingly severe challenges to flood control along the river.

In response to heavy downpours in Hunan, the railway authorities have taken precautionary measures and suspended train services on several routes through Hunan. As a result, some passing trains were delayed.

Guangxi activated a Level-IV emergency response to flooding at 6 p.m. on Saturday, as the region expected long-lasting heavy downpours that pose a high risk of triggering disasters.

The Ministry of Water Resources also said that at 4 a.m. on Saturday, the water level at the Hutou hydrometric station on the upper reaches of the Wusuli River in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province climbed to 57.99 meters, 0.9 meters higher than the safety guarantee level, the highest level recorded so far, since the first data was collected in 1951.

China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Tuesday activated a Level-IV emergency response to flooding in Heilongjiang Province.

Triggered by persistent downpours, certain tributaries of the Wusuli River and the Songhua River saw floods above the safety guarantee level.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.