Guangdong enters state of readiness for torrential storms

All kindergartens, primary and high schools in Guangzhou's Huadu and Conghua districts have suspended classes from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday due to the rainstorms that began to strike the southern metropolis on Tuesday.

All students will take online courses at home on Wednesday and Thursday, according to notices released by the education departments of the two districts on Tuesday.

Students and parents in other districts are also asked to pay heeds to local weather reports and get ready for suspension of classes in the next two days.

Affected by the torrential rainfall, some passenger trains operating on the Beijing-Guangzhou and Hangzhou-Shenzhen railway lines and the intercity railway service of Jiangmen-Zhanjiang, Guangzhou-Zhuhai, Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing will be canceled or make detours to avoid affected areas before the weekend.

Guangzhou metro services may be suspended as needed in the coming days, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Guangzhou's Flood Control, Drought Relief and Anti-typhoon Headquarters urged residents on Tuesday afternoon to avoid going out after six districts issued yellow warning signals, the third-highest level of the four-tiered warning system.

Departments have been urged to take concrete and effective measures to reinforce river and reservoir dikes and to avoid landslides, flooding and related geological hazards in the coming days.

According to Guangdong Meteorological Service, the province is expected to be hit by the heaviest rainstorm of the year between Tuesday and Friday, with high risks of sudden surges of river water, mountain torrents, urban and rural waterlogging, landslides and related geological disasters.

Chimelong theme park, one of the major tourist attractions in Guangzhou, temporarily closed to ensure tourists' safety, it said in a notice on Tuesday.

The Guangdong provincial water conservancy department has triggered an emergency response mechanism for meteorological disasters and urged affected cities and departments to go all-out to protect people's lives and property and minimize economic losses in the days to come.