Authorities in north China have stepped up relief efforts after torrential rain triggered flooding, with the National Meteorological Center issuing an orange alert for rainstorms.
China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
The capital Beijing has been hit by heavy rain since Sunday night, with the maximum precipitation reaching 290.5 millimeters in its Miyun and Pinggu districts.
The municipal meteorological bureau upgraded the rainstorm warning from orange to red on Monday noon.
The Miyun Reservoir in northeastern suburban Beijing has since increased water discharge and evacuated residents in downstream villages. By 14:00 on Monday, a total of 30,391 residents had been relocated to safer areas across Beijing.
Torrential rains have damaged electricity and telecommunication facilities in the northern districts of Miyun, Huairou and Yanqing. The relevant departments have gone all out to repair the facilities.
So far, a total of 162 base stations in the three districts have resumed operation, and power supply to nearly 15,000 households have been basically restored.
As downpours batter most parts of Hebei Province, the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief launched a Level-IV emergency response for the flood-hit region on Monday.
China has a four-tier emergency response system for flood control, with Level I being the most severe.
The National Development and Reform Commission said Monday that it has allocated 50 million yuan (about 7 million U.S. dollars) to assist relief efforts in Hebei.
Meanwhile, heavy rains lashed Jizhou District in Tianjin Municipality on Sunday, with rainfall exceeding 200 millimeters in some mountainous areas.
The torrential rain has resulted in the evacuation of more than 5,600 people in the district and the shutdown of all scenic areas, rural tourism sites and homestay hotels.
The Ministry of Water Resources on Monday announced China's No.1 flood of major rivers of 2025 in the Luanhe River, located in north China's Haihe River Basin.
At 4:30 on Monday, the inflow rate at the Panjiakou Reservoir on the main stream of the Luanhe River rose to 2,270 cubic meters per second, according to the Haihe River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources.
A maximum inflow rate of about 4,000 cubic meters per second is expected at the Panjiakou Reservoir on Monday night.
The reservoir has started to discharge floodwater.
According to the National Meteorological Center, heavy rains will persist in many areas of north China till Tuesday.
Meanwhile, rainfall will increase in northeast China and eastern parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Moreover, Typhoon Co-May, the eighth typhoon of the year affecting China, is expected to make landfall in the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu on Wednesday and bring rainstorms to coastal regions.
Authorities in north China intensify rescue, relief efforts amid heavy downpours
