Beijing upgrades storm alert as heavy rain continues

BEIJING, July 20, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken by a cellphone shows vehicles stranded in water at a flooded tunnel outside the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2016. Beijing's meteorological bureau issued an orange alert for rainstorm Wednesday noon. (Xinhua/Liu Guannan)

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- An orange alert was issued for heavy rain in Beijing on Wednesday.

Around 70mm of rain fell in the center and southern part of the city in six hours, according to the city's meteorological authority.

The heavy rain is expected to last until Wednesday night and may exceed 100 mm.

The capital issued a storm blue alert at 7:30 Tuesday and raised it to yellow on Wednesday morning before raising it again in the early afternoon.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.