Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

CHEGONGMIAO Station, an underground transport hub where four Metro lines meet, was closed for 60 minutes during rush hour yesterday due to flooding caused by Typhoon Merbok, the second typhoon of the year.

Video clips show water running down the stairs and flooding some areas of the station, where riders were arriving or leaving the station.

The operator had to close the station between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. due to safety concerns and trains on lines 1, 7, 9 and 11 didn’t stop at the station.

According to a release by Shenzhen Metro Group, the flood was caused by a burst pipeline in the No. 2 passage, which is under construction and will be linked to the Metro station. The water at the construction site rose over the bank and flooded the Metro station.

The incident prompted an immediate rescue involving 350 rescue workers before the Metro resumed service at 9:35 a.m.

During the three hours between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., Merbok, which landed at midnight on Dapeng Peninsula, brought a maximum of 82.6 millimeters of rainfall to the city.

Despite the Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory lowering the typhoon alert level from yellow to blue at 7:40 a.m., indicating classes should be resumed, many netizens questioned why classes shouldn’t be suspended. In a response to the doubts online, the Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory said on its official microblog that classes should be closed only when a rain alert reaches the red level or a typhoon warning reaches the yellow level.

“The natural disasters caused by a typhoon are unpredictable prior to its arrival, so we need to be fully prepared, including for the relocation of people. But when a typhoon has passed, the weather situation is predictable, so we won’t suspend classes unless the rain alert has reached a red level or the typhoon alert has reached a yellow level,” said the observatory in its posting.

The morning rain also flooded some low-lying areas in the city including the Keji Underpass of Shennan Road and Lianhua Road. In some areas, the water was up to the knees because of the low capacity of the sewerage system.

The observatory canceled the blue typhoon alert at 9 a.m. yesterday after Merbok left the city.

In another development, two employees with Nan’ao Subdistrict Office in Dapeng New Area received a Party warning for negligence in battling Typhoon Haima in October last year, according to the official website of the Shenzhen Party disciplinary inspection commission Monday.

Deputy chiefs with the firefighting unit of the subdistrict office, Deng Yuanyuan and Ye Congyang, were criticized for failing to implement contingent rules and not being on duty when Haima hit the city Oct. 20 last year.