CHINESE authorities yesterday raised the emergency response for flood control to Level II, the second-highest level in the response system, as heavy downpours continued to lash the central province of Henan.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.

Extremely heavy rainfall hit Henan on Tuesday, with precipitation in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, exceeding the highest level on local weather records, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM).

The rainstorm has caused the water level in a reservoir to rise rapidly, said the ministry, adding that all local residents downstream have been relocated in advance.

From 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. yesterday, the average rainfall in Zhengzhou was 458.2 millimeters, with accumulated precipitation in some areas even surpassing the city’s total average yearly rainfall, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

The death toll rose to 25, with seven people missing, local authorities told a press briefing yesterday afternoon.

Since July 16, over 1.24 million people have been affected by the extremely heavy rainfall and about 164,710 people have been relocated to safe places, said Xu Zhong, director of the office of Henan Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

The MEM has dispatched a working team to the affected areas in Henan to help local authorities with disaster relief.

A rescue team of 1,800 firefighters has been deployed to the flood-hit region from seven neighboring provinces, together with boats, pumping vehicles and flood rescue kits.

As of 5 a.m. yesterday, Henan had also dispatched 17,280 firefighters to help with the rescue work.

On Tuesday afternoon, Zhengzhou Metro announced a halt to all of its services. Water had gushed into stations of metro Line 5 and left over 500 passengers in waist-high floods.

Traffic has been disrupted in up to 30 sections of national and provincial highways in Henan due to flooding and collapsed roads, according to the Ministry of Transport.

As of 7 a.m. yesterday, 26 expressways in the region had reported partial closures, but there were not high numbers of vehicles and travelers stranded, said the transport ministry.

Floods and downpours have also affected flight and train services. With a red alert for flight delays in place from 8 p.m. Tuesday to yesterday noon, all flights intending to land at the airport in Zhengzhou were canceled.

Parts of the Zhengzhou-Xi’an High-speed Railway and the Lianyungang-Lanzhou Railway saw tracks and equipment flooded, as well as trackbed collapses, said the China State Railway Group.

(Continued on P4)