Heavy rain subsides in Hebei, but dangers remain

Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, removed its alert for rainstorms at 2:29 pm on Thursday, as the rain had stopped at noon in the city after more than two days of heavy weather, Hebei Daily reported.

The province issued a red alert for rainstorms on Thursday morning, warning that some cities, including Shijiazhuang, would continue to see downpours until around noon.

The accumulated rain in Hebei was 62.9 mm on average from 8 pm on Tuesday to 11 am on Thursday, with the maximum reaching 435.6 mm at Guyi town in Handan, according to the Hebei Meteorological Service Bureau. Most places in the province have seen heavy rain since Tuesday.

The rain had gradually subsided or stopped by Thursday at noon in major cities in Hebei - Shijiazhuang, Handan and Xingtai. The bureau forecast that rain will lighten but will still visit some cities in the province after Thursday afternoon.

Forecasters said that geological disasters, such as landslides and building collapses may affect some places in the three cities until midnight on Thursday.

The province stopped all in-person classroom teaching activities, training and summer camps on Wednesday for safety reasons because of the the heavy rainfall and related disasters, a notice released by the Hebei Education Department said.