China's Shaanxi activates top level emergency response for natural disaster relief

XI'AN, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Tuesday raised the emergency response level for natural disaster relief from Level IV to Level I, the highest in the country's four-tier emergency response system, after rain-triggered disasters claimed the lives of at least 20 people in the province.

The provincial disaster prevention, mitigation and relief commission activated the top-level emergency response at 10 a.m., in accordance with the provincial natural disaster relief emergency plan, due to significant losses and the ongoing threat from recent flooding, according to the commission.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, the provincial meteorological observatory raised the rainstorm alert level to yellow, as it anticipated heavy rainstorms in the cities of Yan'an, Tongchuan, Baoji, Xianyang and Hanzhong from 9 a.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday.

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

Since July 15, rain-triggered floods have plagued many parts of Shaanxi. To date, five people have been killed in floods in the city of Baoji, and another 15 were killed after an expressway bridge collapsed into a flooded river in Zhashui County.