BEIJING: Various government bodies in the capital have issued alerts for torrential rain from Sunday to Monday, warning of potential dangers from landslides and floods.
On Sunday morning, the Beijing observatory issued a blue alert for downpours. Most parts of the metropolis were expected to be engulfed by heavy rainfall from 5 pm on Sunday to 2 pm on Monday, it said.
China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
The rain will bring risks of floods in small and medium-sized rivers in the mountainous areas, it said. It is highly possible those areas will also be stricken by mountain torrents.
The observatory also stressed the danger in approaching some low-lying areas in downtown Beijing, saying such areas are prone to be inundated.
At 12 am Sunday, Beijing’s planning and natural resources committee and the observatory jointly issued alerts for geological disasters, noting collapses and landslides may occur in nine districts in the capital.
Considering the higher possibilities of such disasters in northeastern Pinggu, eastern Mentougou and northwestern Haidian districts, they were given yellow alerts. For most other areas, however, the departments also warned of dangers with a blue alert.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
