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| Henan, a populous province double the size of Austria, has been hit by storms since the weekend in an unusually active rainy season. (Photo by= AFP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] BEIJING: Heavy rain pounded the central Chinese province of Henan on Tuesday (Jul 20), bursting the banks of major rivers, flooding the streets of a dozen cities, and shutting the world-famous Shaolin Temple, Reuters reported.
Henan, a populous province double the size of Austria, has been hit by storms since the weekend in an unusually active rainy season. No deaths or casualties have been reported, but the daily lives of the province's 94 million people have been upended by transport closures. In Henan, a major logistics hub, train services were suspended, while many highways were closed and flights delayed or canceled. Meanwhile in Zhengzhou, by the banks of the Yellow River, residents waded through knee-high water to cross submerged street intersections, state television showed. In Ruzhou city, streets have turned into torrents, sweeping away cars and other vehicles.
A rising Yi River also threatened to hit the Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site featuring millennium-old Buddhist statues etched into limestone cliffs near the city of Luoyang.
From Saturday to Tuesday, 3,535 weather stations in Henan saw rainfall exceed 50mm, of which 1,614 registered levels above 100mm and 151 above 250mm. The highest was in Lushan city, which saw 498mm of rain, a provincial weather bureau reported.. Rain is forecast to stop by Thursday.
