Red alert issued for rains in Sichuan

Two governmental agencies released a joint red alert for mountain torrents in the central part of Sichuan province from Sunday to Monday night.

The highest of its kind, the red meteorological alert was issued by the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration on Sunday night.

The alert came with a forecast that heavy rain is expected to batter the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Gansu, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, through Monday.

Incidences and risks of other geological disasters will also be high in these provinces.

In other parts of China, however, heat waves with temperatures as high as 40 C are expected to hit the provinces of Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian, as well as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the administration said.