South China's Guangxi launches level-IV emergency response for rainstorms

NANNING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region launched a level-IV emergency response for major meteorological disasters on Friday as heavy rainfall continues lashing parts of the region, said the regional meteorological bureau.

Between 8 a.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday, over 100 townships across Guangxi had been saturated by downpours. Among these was Xinggang Town in Beihai City, which registered a 6-hour precipitation of 440.5 mm, a record amount for a single township in Guangxi compared to the same period of previous years.

Torrential rains have been forecast for the next three days for the southern part of Guangxi, and the Beibu Gulf will experience rainstorms and gusts of 17.2 to 20.7 meters per second.

Meteorologists have urged strengthening disaster prevention and paying attention to the safety of offshore operations and passing vessels.

China has a four-tier emergency-response system for rainstorms, with Level I being the most severe.