Beijing urged residents to consider working from home as heavy rain bears down on the Chinese capital and other northern regions, threatening to knock down power lines and inundate crops.
(Bloomberg) — Beijing urged residents to consider working from home as heavy rain bears down on the Chinese capital and other northern regions, threatening to knock down power lines and inundate crops.
Beijing, Tianjin, and parts of Henan, Shanxi and Shandong provinces are on their highest alert for rain after remnants of Typhoon Doksuri swept through southern China and continued to move northward. Residents of the capital were told not to commute to work unless necessary. Authorities also warned of flooding and landslides.
Doksuri was one of the strongest typhoons to make landfall in China this year. It hit the southeastern province of Fujian on Friday, forcing local authorities to close schools and suspend public transport. Power lines were disrupted and the weather bureau reported “serious damage” to coastal fisheries.
Torrential rain could flatten key crops like corn and flood low-lying fields, the National Meteorological Center said Monday. It may also facilitate the spread of diseases, adding to disruptions to food supply caused by extreme weather this year. Farmers are asked to drain fields and pick ripe fruits in time.
Residents in Baoding city and Zhuozhou city in Hebei have also been asked to work from home on Monday. Power services in Zhejiang and Fujian had largely been restored by late Sunday, State Grid Corp. of China said in a statement.
Meanwhile, another typhoon is on the way. Zhejiang province in eastern China has activated a level four emergency response, as Typhoon Khanun approaches, state-owned Xinhua reported. Khanun is the sixth typhoon this year, according to Xinhua. Level four is the lowest in the four-tier emergency response system.
–With assistance from Lulu Shen and Luz Ding.
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