china PAGE 12 | TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012 CHINADAILY.COM.CN/WORLD CHINA DAILY Typhoon Tourist sites unscathed by deluge threatens By ZHENG XIN [email protected] southern Most scenic spots in Beijing got through the storm on Saturday unscathed, but rain continued to lash neighboring Hebei province, killing at provinces least 17 people by Monday. Meanwhile, the highway link- By ZHENG CAIXIONG ing Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao in Guangzhou remains blocked. and HUANG YIMING in Haikou Some lamp poles, guardrails, signboards and parking lots were Typhoon Vicente was barreling damaged by the worst storm in the toward Guangdong and Hainan prov- capital in more than six decades, and inces and part of the Guangxi Zhuang the government is repairing them, autonomous region on Monday night Beijing tourism authorities said on and early Tuesday morning, according Monday. to meteorological authorities. Th e worst-hit tourist sites included Because of the typhoon, ferry service Shidu, Badachu Park and Tongzhou across Qiongzhou Strait has been sus- Grand Canal Forest Park, Yu Debin, pended since 6 pm on Sunday, leaving deputy director of the Beijing Tour- many passengers and vehicles stranded ism Development Committee, said at in Haikou, Hainan province, and the a news conference on Monday. Leizhou Peninsula in western Guang- Lu Yong, the committee’s director, dong. warned the public to stay away from Train service between Beijing and undeveloped mountainous areas Sanya in Hainan, as well as between because Beijing might get another Haikou and Shanghai, Chang- rainstorm on Wednesday. sha, Xi’an and Chengdu, has been “We will restore the warning and rescheduled due to the suspension direction signs that were damaged of rail ferry service between Guang- by the storm as soon as possible, but ZHANG LIMINGZHU / FOR CHINA DAILY dong and Hainan. we’re also advising tourists not to go to Rescue workers pump water from a section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in Fengtai district of Beijing on Monday afternoon. Local authorities said the ferry ser- dangerous places,” Lu said. vice will not be restored until Tuesday Lu said the storm, which killed at aft ernoon, when Vicente weakens. least 37 people in the city, will not seri- In Shenzhen, which borders Hong ously hurt Beijing’s tourism industry. Capital to upgrade drainage Kong, 16 fl ights from Shenzhen Baoan Liu Wenbo, director of the admin- International Airport were canceled on istrative office of Badaling special Monday because of the bad weather, zone, where the famous Badaling sec- We will restore the warn- By ZHENG JINRAN underpass drainage system vulner- poor drainage system in Beijing and 10 ferry services linking the air- tion of the Great Wall stands, said “not ing and direction signs ... [email protected] able.” is to gradually upgrade the under- port to Hong Kong and Macao were fewer” tourists visited the scenic spot but we’re also advising Many of the 78 underpasses, which ground conduits and design stan- canceled. over the weekend than before. ‘‘ Rescue work following the heavy were built lower than surrounding dards,” said Liu Dongwei, chief Authorities have also cancelled six “Th e rainfall here was not as serious tourists not to go to dan- rainstorms that hit Beijing on Satur- roads, have limited pumping capac- architect of the China Institute helicopter fl ights to Macao because of as it was downtown,” he said. gerous places.” day is continuing, as the local gov- ity and are capable of draining away of Building Standard Design and the storm. Famous downtown tourist sites, LU YONG ernment pledges to upgrade the poor water only if the rainfall is less than Research. “But it’s not a job that will In Guangzhou, many passengers such as the Palace Museum, the DIRECTOR OF BEIJING TOURISM DEVELOP- drainage system. 30 millimeters an hour, making traf- be completed soon.” were stranded in Baiyun International Temple of Heaven and the Summer MENT COMMITTEE Th e fl oods left at least 37 people fi c jams in rainy weather a regular Th e new design standards should Airport aft er nine domestic fl ights were Palace, were not damaged by the dead and caused traffi c chaos across sight, he said. be implemented as part of the whole cancelled and 153 others delayed due torrential rainfall, according to the the city. Pan Anjun, deputy director of the city development plan. In addition, to the storm. Beijing Municipal Administration of urday ravaged neighboring Hebei on “Th e rescue and cleanup work is water authority, told China Daily the more permeable materials should Only 41 percent of domestic fl ights Cultural Heritage. Sunday and Monday. going on, with thousands of peo- storms had revealed areas of concern. be adopted in more communities, could take off from the airport as China CYTS Tours Holding said its At least 17 people have been con- ple’s participation,” said Liu Lizhi, a “The chaos of transportation he said. scheduled, according to an offi cial from business in the capital was not aff ected fi rmed dead and 21 missing in Hebei, publicity offi cial with Beijing Water due to the summer rainstorms has “But this upgrading program the airport on Monday. because most of the scenic spots and the provincial civil aff airs bureau said Authority. exposed our weakness in municipal requires the government to invest Vicente is so far the strongest routes are in the northern part of the on Monday. During the downpour, transpor- infrastructure,” Pan said. more,” he said. typhoon to hit China’s coastal areas city, where storm damage was not as Eleven thousand tourists and 2,700 tation in the lower areas of the city Thorough examinations of Th e heavy rainfall from the week- this year. bad as in the southern part. rural residents are still stranded in was paralyzed, especially in some underpasses will be conducted, end storm drained into rivers run- According to the Guangdong pro- A bus driver for a private transpor- Laiyuan, Laishui and Yixian coun- underpasses with poor drainage sys- and upgrading plans will be made ning through the capital, which met vincial meteorological observatory, tation company in Hebei province ties, as roads leading to rural tourists tems. Deep water was logged at 52 for every one of them to improve in the North Canal, the northern part the powerful rainstorm lashing Pearl that carries passengers from Beijing attractions remain blocked and tele- sites in downtown areas, including drainage, Pan said. He did not reveal of the Grand Canal and also a branch River Delta cities will not subside until to Hebei’s capital, Shijiazhuang, said communications cut off . many underpasses, especially at the schedule of the upgrading program. of Haihe River feeding to the Bohai Th ursday. no trips have been canceled or prices The rain has brought floods and Guangqumen Bridge on the East According to a report released by Sea through Tianjin. Some cities in South China have increased despite the rain. hail to 56 counties in Hebei, and near- Second Ring Road where a 34-year- the Beijing Drainage Group in early Th e fl ood passed through Beijing already been hit by raging storms in However, he has to take a differ- ly 160,000 people were evacuated over old man drowned in a stranded car. July, all 78 existing underpasses will and arrived in Tianjin on Sunday previous two days. ent route because the Beijing-Hong the weekend. Th e water was drained by Sunday be reconstructed by the end of 2015. morning. The water level of the Haikou had 113.5 millimeters of rain Kong-Macao Expressway was still Hebei’s Yesanpo tourist resort was night, and traffi c in the downtown More powerful pumps will be Qinglong and Jianhe rivers, which and wind gusting at close to 70 kilo- blocked on Monday. That was the one of the worst hit areas. areas has returned to normal. installed if water fails to drain from experienced flooding, peaked at meters per hour on Sunday night and only highway still fl ooded in Beijing, Thousands of tourists, who were “Th e design standards of under- the underpasses when rainfall reach- 8.16 meters, 0.06 meters higher than Monday morning. according to the committee. short of water and cut off in traffic passes are poor because they were es 50 mm. Adjustable reservoirs will the fl ood diversion level on Sunday Huang Jianxue, a resident of Haikou, “The detour adds an hour to the and communication, have been taken constructed in the 1980s,” said Zheng also be built for some underpasses, night. said the gale was so strong that many trip between the two cities,” said the away from Yesanpo, according to the Jiang, deputy general manager of which will prevent fl ooding even if But the fl ood passed through that people stayed indoors on Monday. driver, named Fu. micro blog of Laishui county, where Beijing Drainage Group in a press the rainfall reaches 70 mm. section safely, heading to the Bohai “I was soaked to the bone when I got Th e storm that hit Beijing on Sat- Yesanpo is located. release on Sunday. “It makes our “One solution to improve the Sea on Monday morning. home from work,” he said. “Peoples’ raincoats were whipped around by the gales,” he added. The city’s meteorological center issued a red storm alert on Monday, the highest warning level in China’s Boats urged off crowded Yangtze as fl ood peak nears four-tier color-coded weather warn- ing system. By XU WEI in Chongqing improve the effi ciency of ferry servic- By noon on Monday, 2,486 fi shing [email protected] es at the dam as soon as the amount of boats had returned to typhoon shelters fl oodwater release is lowered. in Haikou. Authorities have called for tighter Shipping congestion at the Th ree On Yongxing island in Sansha, Hain- control of boats and small ships on Gorges Dam has occurred since late an, many coconut palms were toppled the Yangtze River to ease river traf- June as the fl ood peak approached. by the winds. fi c congestion at the Th ree Gorges As of July 13, there were 606 ships Cities in the Pearl River Delta, includ- Dam, which is about to face the were caught in the river traffic at ing Guangzhou, have been struck by largest fl ood peak of the year this the dam. the storms in the past two days. In Hui- week. Th e congestion has already aff ect- zhou, Zhuhai, Yangjiang, Zhanjiang In a joint statement, the State ed river cruises that operate between and Maoming, downtown streets were Flood Control and Drought Relief Chongqing and the dam. fl ooded aft er the downpours. Headquarters and the Ministry of “We have to cancel the tour to the Liu Kun, deputy governor of Guang- Transport called on local authorities ship locks because of the congestion,” dong, has urged cities in the coastal to try to dissuade owners of boats said a staff member of Chongqing areas to do what they can to avoid casu- and small ships from operating dur- Tourism Investment Group named alties and minimize economic loss. ing the flood peak period and to Jiang. His group operates river cruis- “All the fishing boats must return tighten safety measures of vessels es along the Yangtze. to safe waters before Vicente makes crowded at the dam. Jiang said the congestion has landfall,” he said at a work conference Th e Th ree Gorges Dam will face increased the company’s operating on Monday. the largest flood peak this year costs because it has to disembark RAN WEN / FOR CHINA DAILY He said priority must be given to before dawn on Wednesday after the passengers at Yichang, Hubei A man jumps across fl oodwater in Wujia township of Chongqing on Sunday. Heavy rains have hit the municipality protecting agriculture, water conser- heavy rains hit upstream areas of province, and then use buses. since Saturday and aff ected 300,000 residents. vancy projects and coastal and river the Yangtze River, the national fl ood Torrential rain has ravaged 17 dikes. control authority said. of China’s provinces since July 20, Guizhou, and forced the evacuation the Inner Mongolia autonomous direct relief work. In Yangjiang alone, more than 6,500 The flow rate could also be the leaving 95 dead and 45 missing, of 567,000 residents, the ministry region, and three deaths and 14 As of Monday noon, natural disas- fi shing boats had returned to typhoon highest at the dam since it began the Ministry of Civil Affairs said said in a statement. missing in Shaanxi. ters — strong wind, hail, floods, shelters ahead of Vicente. operation, the authority said. on Monday, Xinhua News Agency Th e ministry reported 37 deaths Rainstorms have destroyed 29,000 landslides and mudslides — had Th e dam increased its fl oodwater reported. in Beijing, 17 deaths and 21 miss- houses and damaged another 55,000. aff ected 110 million people on the Contact the writers at zhengcaix- release from 38,000 cubic meters per Natural disasters caused by the ing in Hebei, eight deaths and two National disaster relief and civil Chinese mainland this year, leaving [email protected] and huan- second to 43,000 cu m per second downpours have aff ected 6.23 mil- missing in Sichuan, six deaths and aff airs authorities initiated a level- 680 dead and 137 missing, according [email protected] between Monday evening and Tues- lion people in 264 counties and 17 four missing in Yunnan, fi ve deaths four emergency response and sent to the ministry. day morning. provinces and municipalities such as in Chongqing, four deaths and one teams to the worst-affected areas Huang Yuli in Shenzhen, Guang- Authorities have promised to Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Sichuan, and missing in Shanxi, three deaths in of Beijing and Hebei on Sunday to Jin Zhu contributed to this story. dong, contributed to this story.