People wade through a waterlogged road in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, July 20, 2021. More than 144,660 residents have been affected by torrential rains in central China's Henan Province since July 16, and 10,152 have been relocated to safe places, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said Tuesday. A total of 16 large and medium-sized reservoirs have seen water levels rise above the alert level after torrential rains battered most parts of the province on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)
ZHENGZHOU, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou has been lashed by record rainstorms, causing severe waterlogging, traffic disruptions, and power outages.
The record rains have prompted the flood control and drought relief headquarters in the capital city of Henan Province to upgrade the flooding emergency response level to its highest on Tuesday afternoon.
Zhengzhou received average precipitation of 457.5 mm within 24 hours to 5 p.m. Tuesday, the highest daily rainfall since the weather record began. The city also reported record-high hourly precipitation of 201.9 mm between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the Henan provincial meteorological center said.
The severe waterlogging has led to the virtual paralysis of the city's road traffic. Over 80 bus lines have been suspended, more than 100 temporarily detoured, and the subway service has also been temporarily suspended.
Rainwater poured into the subway tunnel of the city's Line Five, trapping an unknown number of passengers aboard a subway train.
Police officers, firefighters, and workers from the local subdistrict have arrived at the site for the rescue operation.
The water level inside the subway carriage is receding, and the passengers are temporarily safe.
The airport in Zhengzhou canceled 260 flights into and out of the city, and local railway authorities also halted or delayed some trains.
Affected by the rainstorms, several residential communities in the city are without tap water and electricity.