Trains suspended, people evacuated as downpours lash parts of China

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Torrential rain has triggered flash flooding, landslides and mudflows in many parts of China, disrupting traffic and forcing people to evacuate.

Due to heavy rainfall in central China's Henan Province, Beijing's railway department will temporarily shut 163 passenger trains on routes passing through Henan from Wednesday to Thursday.

Between 9 a.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday, 1,464 firefighters equipped with 107 boats in Henan engaged in rescue work related to rainstorms, rescuing and evacuating 548 people and discharging 44,700 tonnes of water.

In the neighboring Shaanxi Province, heavy downpours have caused landslides and mudflows alongside sections of two highways and an expressway in the city of Baoji, leading to traffic disruptions. No casualties have been reported so far, local authorities said on Wednesday.

At around 1 a.m. Wednesday, a railroad bridge in the city sustained damage from flooding, causing a train that was conducting a flood-control patrol to fall from the bridge, injuring two crew members.

Due to continuous rainfall, passenger trains passing along this railway line have been suspended since Sunday.

From 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday, Baoji received an average precipitation of 67.4 mm, with the highest recorded precipitation reaching 209 mm, according to Shaanxi's meteorological observatory.

On Wednesday, Baoji imposed temporary traffic controls on seven road sections in the city and temporarily shut 70 train lines passing through the city's railway station. A total of 2,459 residents have been evacuated so far.

The province activated a Level-IV emergency response for flood control at 7 a.m., and followed it with a yellow alert for rainstorms at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday.

The risk of geological disasters remains high in parts of the city of Longnan in Gansu Province, which borders Shaanxi, as weather authorities forecast more showers in eastern and southern Gansu on Wednesday.

A red alert for geological disasters was jointly issued by the provincial department of natural resources and the provincial meteorological bureau at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, warning of potential geological disasters in Wudu District, Wenxian County and Kangxian County in Longnan.

"Currently, Longnan railway station has suspended 38 passenger trains," said Liu Hailin, the station director of Longnan, adding that the services are expected to resume from July 19.

Additionally, Shandong Province issued a yellow alert for rainstorms on Wednesday as heavy rains are expected to continue in the southern part of the province until Thursday morning, according to the provincial meteorological bureau.

At 5:50 p.m. Wednesday, the provincial water resources department and meteorological bureau issued a blue alert for mountain torrents, which are expected to occur in parts of Shandong, including the cities of Linyi and Rizhao, from 8 p.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Local authorities are advised to strengthen real-time monitoring and flood warning procedures amid measures to prepare for evacuation.

According to the management committee of Mount Taishan, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Shandong, the rain has led to the temporary closure of the scenic area from 4 p.m. Wednesday until further notice.

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. ■