Heavy rain that started on Thursday has left the southern city of Shenzhen flooded causing schools to close and prompting the release of water from the city’s reservoir just after midnight.
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With a red alert warning in place on Friday, local authorities cautioned people to stay home as much as possible and seek official aid if needed.
Shenzhen weather bureau said that by 10.30am Friday, a monitoring station in Luohu district received a record-breaking 526.3mm (20.7 inches) of rainfall in the previous 24 hours.
On Friday morning, Guangdong provincial Communist Party chief Huang Kunming hosted a video conference in Zhongshan, whose attendees included Meng Fanli, the party secretary of Shenzhen. Huang urged local officials to supervise flood defence and emergency rescue efforts and monitor the weather.
Because of the residual effects of Typhoon Haikui, which made landfall in Taiwan, Fujian and Guangdong this week, the southern coast of mainland China was hit with record rain, local weather forecasters said.
The district government warned of potential flooding around Longgang Zhongxincheng, the most prosperous commercial area in the region. Meanwhile, 151 indoor emergency shelters in the district were opened to the public.
“We ask that people and cars outside this region not travel to the commercial compound, while those on the ground floor and basement of the compound should be evacuated as soon as possible,” said a notice from the district government on Thursday night.
Around midnight on Thursday, it was announced that the Shenzhen Reservoir would start releasing water through the Shenzhen River and the first water was released around 12.15am.
Wang Changxiao, a director at the Shenzhen emergency management bureau, told local media the timing was prompted by the rapid rise in water level because of the extreme rain. ■
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