SHANGHAI: The city was pelting with rain for 16 hours from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning, which claimed to be the heaviest downpour in the area for over 30 years, said a local meteorological expert.
As reported by the municipal meteorological centre, long hours of storms brought the city unprecedented precipitation with the average amount in each district above 100 millimetres, 294 millimetres in Huangpu, 248 millimetres in Xuhui and 126 millimetres in Baoshan.
The strong dense rain brought huge outbreaks of water onto the streets and even broke into houses in districts such as Huangpu, Changning, Zhabei and Yangpu, which disturbed most of the city's residents.
Over the same period, the suburbs around the city also met with heavy storms. Staff of Nanhui County Flood Control Office said most of the river had exceeded the alarm line.
And over 1,000 residents' houses in Nanhui had been flooded by the water to different extents.
Mayor Xu Kuangdi stressed the main objective is to smooth the drainage and solve practical difficulties for local residents. The Shanghai Municipal Fire Control Bureau sent out over 100 trucks to help with the drainage.
By yesterday afternoon, floods in the districts of Jing'an, Hongkou, Putuo and Zhabei had been cleared. But 86 streets in Xuhui, Changning, Luwan and Nanhui were still suffering.
A spokesman of the city flood control headquarters said the work was expected to be finished by Monday evening.
At 11:00 Sunday night, water began to flow into several stations along Metro Line 2, which put the whole system at risk.
The case of Jing'an Station was the most serious. Staff on duty called for an emergency meeting and the City Metro Management Company arranged a team of over 200 people including technicians and migrant workers to help drain off the water and repair the mechanical system.
By 5:50 am yesterday morning when the metro service started, the system had returned to normal, according to the spokesman of the company.
The heavy storm began from 16:00 on Sunday afternoon and ran till 8:00 am yesterday, with lightning and rolling thunder.
"The cloud cluster developed over the city due to the violent combination of several effects," explained Zhang Jiacheng, chief forecaster of Shanghai Meteorological Administration.
”The strong subtropical high pressure on the sea, the heat island effect in the city and the long persistent heat, which lingered here for 13 days all contributed to the violent weather.” Zhang said.
In the next days, Shanghai will still see showers or light thunderstorms. And the highest temperature will reach 33-34 C.
(eastday 07/08/2001)
