BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's national flood control authorities on Saturday stepped up preparations for heavy rain across wide areas of the country, as 15 provincial-level regions were forecast to see heavy to torrential rainfall and some areas faced risks of flash floods and geological disasters.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management convened a multi-agency meeting on Saturday to assess the evolving weather and coordinate flood control measures in key areas, the ministry said.
The rainfall would affect a broad area, with persistent rain in parts of southern China and significant precipitation expected in northern regions that have received relatively little rain in recent months.
Authorities were urged to strengthen weather and hydrological monitoring, issue timely warnings and inspect vulnerable areas for potential hazards.
The National Meteorological Center forecast that a strong cold air mass would bring widespread rain and snow, strong winds and falling temperatures. Saturday was expected to mark the peak of the rainfall, with hourly precipitation exceeding 50 millimeters in parts of Liaoning, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan and Chongqing.
Temperatures across northern China were also expected to fall to their lowest levels since the second half of the year began.
From Saturday to Sunday, temperatures in parts of the northwest, Inner Mongolia, north China, northeast China and other regions were forecast to drop by 4 to 8 degrees Celsius, with some areas seeing declines of more than 10 degrees, Fang Chong, chief forecaster of the National Meteorological Center, said.
The weather could disrupt autumn harvesting and planting, while the rainfall would also help replenish soil moisture in northern China and support the sowing and seedling emergence of winter wheat, Fang added. ■
