New round of rainfall to hit Beijing

BEIJING - Beijing on Wednesday morning issued an alert for geological disasters as a new round of rainstorm is forecast to hit the capital from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

At 9:25 am, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources and Beijing Meteorological Bureau jointly issued the yellow alert for possible geological disasters of mud-slides, cave-in and landslip in mountainous areas in the districts of Fangshan, Mentougou, Huairou, Pinggu and Shijingshan, as well as Miyun county.

The yellow alert is the third highest warning level in China's five-tier color-coded geological disaster warning system.

According to latest meteorological data, from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, Beijing will receive heavy rains with average precipitation of 30 to 50 millimeters, said Zhang Linna, chief forecaster of Beijing Meteorological Station.

The eastern part of Beijing will receive rainstorms with average precipitation of over 50 millimeters, said Zhang.

Massive rainfall, the worst to hit the city in 61 years, battered Beijing on Saturday. It left 37 people dead and caused significant damage.