Storms disrupt hundreds of flights at Beijing airport while authorities warn of landslides in quake-hit Sichuan
Thunderstorms lashed Beijing on Saturday, disrupting hundreds of flights at one of the world’s largest airports, while authorities warned that rain and wind could cause landslides in the area where a magnitude 7 earthquake struck this week.
Beijing authorities raised their weather alert level to “orange” from “yellow” early in the afternoon, warning against lightning, hail, wind and as much as 70mm of rain, threatening flash floods in mountainous areas.
By early afternoon rain had subsided in some parts of the capital, but nine roads were still flooded and 171 tourist sites were shut, official news agency Xinhua reported.
At Beijing Capital International Airport, the busiest on the mainland, almost 500 flights were cancelled from 9am to midnight and 182 were delayed, according to its website. Passengers were advised to check for flight updates.
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Air China said on its official Weibo account that 137 of its flights in and out of the capital had been cancelled by 11am.
Torrential rainstorms are fairly frequent in Beijing over summer, often causing long airport delays.
Other airports affected by the downpours included those in the eastern cities of Shanghai, Nanjing in Jiangsu province and Hangzhou in Zhejiang. In the north, there were disruptions at airports in Shijiazhuang in Hebei, Taiyuan in Shanxi, Lanzhou in Gansu, Xining in Qinghai and Yinchuan in Ningxia.
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The National Meteorological Centre meanwhile warned rescue crews working in Jiuzhaigou, in southwestern Sichuan province, to be on alert for landslides and lightning. Heavy rain was expected across the southeast on Saturday, it said.
Widespread flooding hit the towns of Xiangbei and Xiangxi in central Hunan province, Xinhua said. Rainfall across the province ranged from 100mm to 200mm.
Meanwhile in Taiwan, the mercury could hit 35 or 36 degrees Celsius on Sunday in the greater Taipei area, Keelung and Taoyuan as a high-pressure system in the Pacific intensifies, the island’s Central Weather Bureau said.
On Friday, five people were killed when a tornado tore through the city of Chifeng, about 1,046km east of Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, Xinhua reported. More than 50 people were injured. At least 30 homes were destroyed, affecting 270 people in three villages, People’s Daily reported.
