Alert issued against severe weather conditions

Severe weather warnings have been issued across various regions in China, with torrential rains, thunderstorms, gales and hail expected to impact the southwestern and northern parts of the country, while southern China, on the other hand, is set to endure scorching heat, according to meteorological authorities.

The National Meteorological Center continued to issue a blue alert for rainstorms on Friday, warning of heavy to torrential rains in parts of the Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi provinces, Beijing, and Inner Mongolia autonomous region from 2 pm Friday to 2 pm Saturday.

China has a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe alert, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Some areas in the Sichuan Basin are forecast to experience heavy downpours, with precipitation reaching 100 to 200 millimeters, the center said.

The observatory also issued a blue alert for severe convective weather, warning that parts of North, Northeast and Southwest China may experience thunderstorms and gales or hail from 2 pm Friday to 2 pm Saturday.

Meanwhile, the center continued to issue a yellow heat alert on Friday. It forecast that widespread and persistent high-temperature weather will hit parts of the Huanghuai, Jianghuai, Jianghan and Jiangnan regions in the next three days, with local maximum temperatures exceeding 40 C.

In Northwest China's Gansu province, local flood control and drought relief headquarters issued a red alert for mountain torrents on Friday. Around 9 am the same day, the central meteorological observatory of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, upgraded its yellow alert for rainstorms to orange.

From 8 am Wednesday to 9 am Friday, heavy downpours hit the eastern part of Longnan city in the province, with a maximum precipitation of 304.1 mm recorded in Yuhe township in the city's Wudu district.

A landslide triggered by flood killed two workers at a construction site in Longnan's Huixian county on Thursday, according to local authorities. Some streets in the county were flooded and landslides occurred in some mountainous areas.

The Maijishan scenic area, home to the UNESCO-listed heritage site Maijishan Grottoes in the province's Tianshui city, has been temporarily closed to visitors since Thursday morning due to heavy rain in the region.

Despite entering its peak tourist season, Zhang Hui, deputy director of the scenic area's management committee, said the closure was prompted by concerns over cultural heritage protection and visitor safety.

In Southwest China's Sichuan province, heavy rainfall battered multiple areas on Thursday, with extreme rainfall reported in parts of Mianyang, Deyang and Chengdu cities in Sichuan. The People's Park in Chengdu's downtown area recorded a precipitation of 315.7 mm within four hours.

Heavy rainfall has triggered landslides, damaged roads and flooded farmlands in Guangyuan in northern Sichuan.

To mitigate disasters triggered by heavy rainfall, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated a Level-IV emergency response to flooding in provinces of Liaoning, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

During a joint consultation organized by the headquarters' office and the Ministry of Emergency Management on the same day, authorities stressed the need to enhance prevention and response measures in vulnerable spots, including mountain torrents and geological disasters, the flood-season management of small and medium-sized reservoirs, and urban and rural water-logging.

On Friday, China's disaster relief authorities allocated 25,000 relief supplies, including folding beds, blankets and emergency kits, to Sichuan, Gansu and Liaoning provinces to support flood relief and resident relocation.

Xinhua contributed to this story.