The Ministry of Water Resources activated a Level-IV emergency flood response in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Saturday in anticipation of severe rainfall and potential flooding.
China has a four-tier emergency response system for flood control, with Level-I being the most urgent response.
From Saturday to Monday, heavy to torrential rains are forecast in China's northwestern, northern and southern regions, with potential flooding in small and medium-sized rivers.
View of Tekes County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 10, 2024. /CFP
On Saturday, the National Meteorological Center renewed a blue alert for rainstorms, the least severe level of a four-tier weather warning system, with heavy rainfall expected to continue to lash several regions of the country.
From 8 p.m. on Saturday to 8 p.m. on Sunday, torrential rain will sweep parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan and Beijing, Tianjin, and the Taiwan region, according to the center.
Areas in Guangdong will see up to 140 millimeters of rainfall. Meanwhile, other places will experience short-term heavy rain with 70 millimeters or more of hourly precipitation, accompanied by thunderstorms and gales.
The meteorological center has advised local governments to make appropriate preparations and check drainage systems in cities, farmland and fishponds.