Northeast China steps up flood response as typhoon brings torrential rain

SHENYANG/CHANGCHUN -- Nearly 365,000 people were evacuated across Northeast China's Liaoning province by early Tuesday as torrential rain triggered by Typhoon Bavi battered the region, sending multiple rivers above warning levels and prompting emergency responses.

Heavy rain lashed central and northern Liaoning from Sunday night through Tuesday morning, with parts of Shenyang, Anshan, Fushun, Liaoyang and Tieling recording extremely heavy rainfall.

By 6 am Tuesday, 14 rivers, including the Hunhe, Qinghe and Puhe, had risen above warning levels, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Flood emergency responses were activated in 14 cities and the Shenfu demonstration zone by 6 am Tuesday.

Shenyang, Fushun and Tieling were among the hardest-hit cities, with Shenyang and Fushun raising their emergency responses to the highest level and more than 6,000 relief items dispatched to Tieling.

In neighboring Jilin province, Huinan county upgraded its flood and typhoon emergency response to the highest level as rising water levels on the Huifa River heightened flood risks. Authorities suspended classes, work, public transportation, business operations and industrial production.

Floodwaters from the Huifa River submerged riverside woods opposite the government building in Hailong township, Meihekou city. As of 11 am Tuesday, the city had recorded an average rainfall of 174.9 millimeters, with the heaviest total reaching 292.8 millimeters in a local village.

"The flood peak has yet to pass, so we can't let our guard down," said Zhao Jidong, Party secretary of Hailong township. "We have reinforced an 8-km dike and safely evacuated more than 1,400 residents."

The largest temporary shelter in Meihekou was set up at a vocational and technical college. Inside the brightly lit cafeteria, volunteers served noodles to evacuated residents.

Villager Liu Xuefang said he finally felt relieved. "The township and village officials got us out in time," he said. "I don't even want to think about what could have happened otherwise."

Across Jilin province, 39 weather stations recorded between 100 and 249.9 millimeters of rain over the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning, provincial meteorological authorities said.

China's National Meteorological Center on Tuesday renewed an orange alert for rainstorms, forecasting heavy downpours in multiple regions. China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth of the year, made landfall twice along the coast of East China's Zhejiang province at 11:20 pm Saturday and again around midnight, then moved inland. It is the second typhoon this month following Typhoon Maysak, which brought heavy floods and wreaked havoc in southern China.