Thunderstorms lashed Beijing yesterday, disrupting hundreds of flights at one of the world’s largest airports, while authorities warned that rain and wind could cause landslides in the area where a magnitude 7 earthquake struck this week.
Beijing city authorities early yesterday afternoon raised their weather alert level to “orange” from “yellow,” warning that lightning, hail, wind and as much as 70mm of rain would hit the city, potentially causing flash floods in mountainous areas.
Beijing Capital International Airport Co Ltd in a statement on its Web site urged travelers to check for updates on their flights into and out of the city.
Almost 500 flights were listed as canceled from 9am until midnight and 182 were delayed at China’s busiest airport, the Web site showed.
Air China Ltd said on Weibo that about 137 of its flights in and out of the capital had been cancelled as of 11am.
Torrential rain storms are fairly frequent in Beijing in the summer months, often causing long delays at the airport.
Other airports affected by the downpours included Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou.
The others were in northern regions: Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, Lanzhou in Gansu Province, Xining in Qinghai Province and Yinchuan in Ningxia Province.
In a statement, China’s National Meteorological Center cautioned rescue crews working in Jiuzhaigou, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, to be on alert for landslides and lightning.
Heavy rain was expected across southeastern China yesterday, it said.
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