Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    TORRENTIAL rain yesterday caused massive flight delays, forced partial closure of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway for three hours, and flooded more than 100 areas in Shenzhen. No casualties were reported.

    The heavy rain, said to be the strongest since 2008, prompted the city’s meteorological observatory to issue a red alert at 1 p.m. yesterday — the second-highest level of a five-level warning system.

    Yesterday city monitoring stations recorded an average of 194.7 millimeters of rainfall. In some areas, the rainfall reached 300 millimeters. The heaviest downpour was in Longhua New Area, where 430.7 millimeters had fallen by 7 p.m., the observatory said. It forecasted rainfall to ease at 10 p.m. yesterday.

    “The weather will still be unstable during the next two days. There will be showers and bouts of heavy rain from Monday through Wednesday,” meteorologist Sun Xiaoling said yesterday.

    By 6 p.m. yesterday, the city had received 100 flood reports and traffic police had helped rescue 1,877 vehicles trapped in floods.

    The Window of the World section of Shennan Boulevard was seriously congested. Traffic on 107 National Highway and on other roads in Nanshan District was at a complete standstill, according to Shenzhen police.

    Police also said people who need to have their car towed can call 8446-9111 or 8333-3333 for help. Drivers who use bus lanes, change lanes or drive against traffic to avoid flooded roads will be exempted from punishment.

    The heavy rain caused cancellation of 48 flights at the Shenzhen airport, which launched an emergency plan yesterday afternoon. The rain also forced 20 flights to land in Guangzhou and Xiamen by 4 p.m. yesterday, according to airport officials. About 30 flights were delayed by more than one hour.

    The rain also caused suspension of bullet trains between Shenzhen and Guangzhou that departed after 2:43 p.m.

    As the Nantou area was flooded by rain, tollgates at Nantou, Futian and Huanggang on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway were closed for three hours till 6:45 p.m.

    Since Friday, the rain has brought 12 million cubic meters of water to Shenzhen’s reservoirs. Residents of three buildings in Buji New Village in Longgang District were evacuated because of a wall collapsing.

    Elsewhere in the country, 18 people were killed and another three injured yesterday after a rainstorm caused a wall to collapse in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Heavy rainstorms had also killed two people in Hunan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said yesterday.