Classes suspended due to heavy rains

Students head for school on Jianshe Road, Longhua District.

The city’s flood control headquarters announced yesterday all kindergartens and primary and secondary schools will suspend classes today and tomorrow when torrential rains are forecast to batter the city.

Off-campus training institutions and child care facilities must also halt operations in those two days, the headquarters said. Colleges, universities and boarding schools must take necessary precautions against possible rain-induced risks.

Torrential rains are forecast today and tomorrow, especially in Bao’an, Nanshan, Futian and Yantian districts, Dapeng New Area and Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone. A red alert for rainstorms is expected to be issued today and tomorrow, said the city’s meteorological body.

When the red warning is in effect, employers should arrange for staff to postpone and leave work early, or stop work, according to the headquarters.

Affected by a spate of heavy rains, all of the city’s forest and country parks have been closed starting yesterday until further notice, according to information released by the city’s urban management authority.

Other park facilities and greenways, including Lianhua Hill’s blind date corner, Shenzhen Bay Park Nature Education Center, Taojin Mountain Greenway and Wutong Greenway, were also temporarily closed.

Dameisha Coastal Park was also shut down Tuesday night until further notice. Fairy Lake Botanical Garden will be closed once an orange alert (or above) for rainstorms is issued, according to the urban management authority.

Some ferry services between Shekou and Zhuhai, Macao and Zhongshan were also canceled yesterday, according to Shenzhen Oceanus Group.

A full refund is available for affected ferries and passengers are advised to call Shekou Cruise Center’s hotline 4008831872 for more details.

Zhang Dong, chief weather forecaster of Guangdong Meteorological Service Center, suggested that this round of heavy rainfall doesn’t belong to the dragon boat rain as dragon boat rain refers to heavy downpour covering the period between May 21 and June 20, around the Dragon Boat Festival.

According to Zhang, strong southwestern warm and humid air currents swarming ashore, coupled with low vortex shear, caused the rains.

Shenzhen Metro has enforced a 24-hour duty system to monitor real-time situations and placed around 220,000 pieces of anti-flooding materials such as sandbags, waterproof flame retardant cloth, anti-slip mats, brooms, emergency water pumps and power generators. Flood flaps were also installed at all station entrances.