Central China's Henan issues red alert for rainstorms

ZHENGZHOU, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Henan Province, once hit hard by torrential rains in July, issued the highest alert for rainstorms twice at 1:20 p.m. and 4:55 p.m. on Sunday, the provincial weather bureau said.

The bureau forecast a new round of downpours measuring over 100 mm in the cities of Pingdingshan, Luohe, Xuchang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Nanyang and Zhoukou on Sunday afternoon.

The province on Saturday noon also launched a level-II emergency response to floods.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, Zhongmou County administered by Zhengzhou City, the provincial capital, recorded an average precipitation of 45.7 mm with a maximum precipitation of 64.8 mm. Since Aug. 20, the county has relocated more than 24,000 residents along the Yellow River to safer places.

As of 6 p.m. Sunday, Weishi County of Kaifeng City, Henan, had also put more than 70 sets of drainage equipment in place to clear waterlogging in urban areas.

Henan was hit by heavy rain from July 16 that had claimed 302 lives by Aug. 2.

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