There was a rapid progression of the intensity of the precipitation, reports MSN. A yellow alert that was posted around 6pm by the Guangzhou Meteological Society was quickly upgraded to orange within an hour, and then became red at 7:53pm, Guangzhou’s first of the year.

The red alert was taken down at 10:22pm.

Heavy rain hit many parts of the city, including the Districts of Yuexiu, Liwan and Haizhu. Roads reported flooded include Guangzhou  Boulevard North, Zhongshan Eight Road, and Tongxin Road.

The Haizhu weather station recorded a rainfall yesterday of 176.2mm, the highest in the city. Second-highest was Liwan District with a recorded rainfall of 137.1mm, and then
Yuexiu District with 136.9mm.

Flooding was reported to have hit dormitories and the cafeteria at Guangdong Foreign Languages and Trade University (Baiyunshan Campus), leaving some 60 students without a place to stay. As well, flood struck Guangzhou Railway Station and forced the cancellation of 18 trains.

Related stories from this year alone:

• Heavy Rains Flood Streets in Guangzhou and Zhanjiang
• Eight Dead As Guangzhou Pulverized By Flooding and Landslides [Pictorial]
• Insane Photos of Shenzhen Flooding, Yellow Alert Issued in Guangzhou
• Record Rainfall Floods Shenzhen [PICTURES]
• Rain to Continue As Shenzhen Flood Disaster to Cost RMB 80 Million
• Dongguan Flood Disaster to Cost Local Economy RMB 55 Million [Pictorial]
• Two Dead, One Missing as Dongguan Teens Swept Away by Floodwaters
• Rain Continues to Fall Mercilessly on the PRD, Shenzhen Issues Red Alert
• Shenzhen Woman, 8 Months Pregnant, The Sixth Person to Die in Recent PRD Flooding
• Huizhou Floods After 4 Hours of Torrential Rain [PHOTOS]
• A Street-by-Street Tour of Shenzhen’s Flooding [PICTORIAL]

Photos: Yangcheng Evening Report, Southern Report, Guangzhou Live, Sina Guangdong, Guangzhou (2)

Affected areas include the Districts of Yuxiu, Liwan, and Haizhu.

The report advises city residents to stay indoors, or to get to a safe place as soon as possible. All programs for kindergartens, daycares, elementary and middle schools have been temporarily suspended.

Reports of flooding have already surfaced throughout the city.

Meanwhile, a yellow alert for lightning was announced at 9:20pm this evening for the City of Shenzhen.

Areas affected include the western side of the city as well as the Districts of Futian, Nanshan, Guangming, Longhua, Western Ocean, and Bantian.

The Guangzhou red alert warning was taken down at 10:22pm.

UPDATE 10:08am June 24: Corrected the proper time the red alert was issued, and when it was rescinded.

Photo: FM 106.1

No reprieve from the rain is expected at the moment as the local weather forecast expects rainfall to continue for the next 24 hours.

Over 150 roads and 20 areas of Shenzhen have been flooded; 10 of those areas expected to be qualified as “disaster zones”.

An estimated 2000 cars have been rendered immobile due to the flooding. Due to the flooding of approximately 400 tracks, over 5458 public buses and trams have been put out of commission.

Shenzhen has issued sporadic red alert weather warnings since the rainfall first began on May 8. Shenzhen’s Longhua District recorded a rainfall of 430.7 mm, while a rainfall of over 100 millimeters within three hours on Sunday afternoon paralyzed traffic throughout the city.

At this time, the Hong Kong Observatory has repealed the red alert warning issued yesterday May 11 at 9:50pm. 

UPDATE: More pictures of flooding from around Shenzhen.

Photos: CFP via CRI, People’s Daily via Weibo, Caijing via Weibo, Shenzhen Evening Report via Weibo

As of 9:50pm on May 11, 2014, a red alert warning was issued by the Hong Kong Observatory for extreme weather conditions as heavy rain continues to fall.

A red rainstorm warning signal indicates 50 millimeters of rain are expected to fall within an hour, and that flash flooding becomes a significant threat to the public.

CCTV reports this is the heaviest rainfall for Shenzhen since 2008, with the maximum precipitation reaching 276.5 mm.

Shenzhen has suffered flooding around its city as well as suffering from sporadic electrical outages.

Besides flooding many roads, the heavy rain has delayed train travel around the province.

Schools are expected to close, and parents should listen to radio broadcasts for closure confirmations.

The Nanfang will continue to provide updates as the story develops.

Photo: Weibo

Under the new system, a red alert will be issued when the air quality index (AQI) is forecast to exceed 300 at more than half of the city’s 10 monitoring stations. Cars in the city will be allowed on the road only on alternate days during red alerts, according to the rules approved on Monday. Orange alerts will be issued when air quality index falls between 201 to 300. If an orange alert is issued, businesses that fail to meet emissions standards will be required to cease emissions altogether.

Thirty percent of government cars will remain parked if air pollution hits serious levels. Twenty percent will be kept off the road during orange alerts.

The mayor himself has pledged to change his commuting habits to help the environment.

The paper has more:

Construction sites that put dust and fumes in the air, as well as fireworks and outdoor barbecues will be banned during orange alerts.

The government’s fleet of 13,000 cars accounts for about 0.6 percent of the cars in Guangzhou, Yang Liu, director of the city’s environmental protection bureau, said at a news conference on Monday.

“In difficult times, public servants should take the lead in taking action to address environmental pollution.”

Yang said Guangzhou Mayor Chen Jianhua pledged to go to work by subway during any environmental emergencies.

Asked whether schools would be suspended during a red alert, Yang said education authorities would address that issue.

In the past three years, the city’s air quality has never deteriorated to a level that would today prompt a red alert, Yang said.

An orange alert would have been issued twice in 2011 and three times last year. No orange alert would have been warranted so far this year.

Guangzhou’s air quality complied with the standard on 210 of the 274 days in the first three quarters of this year, according to Yang’s bureau.

Excellent air quality was recorded on 73 days, good air quality on 137 days, light pollution on 55 days and medium pollution on eight days.

Readings that failed the standards mainly involved ozone, nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 — particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

Of the six air pollution indexes, the PM2.5 reading failed the standard by the largest margin, averaging 47 micrograms per cubic meter and exceeding the standard by 34 percent in the three quarters.

Guangzhou’s PM2.5 readings will decrease by more than 6 percent in 2015 compared with the 2010 levels, according to the city’s environmental protection plan.

Although there is reason to be skeptical as to whether the measures will be successful, their introduction shows that the issue of air pollution has truly taken centre stage. Long-term China watcher Isabel Hilton had this to say:

There was a time, maybe ten years ago, when people were almost proud of smog because it meant ‘we’re industrializing, we’re becoming a real country, we have the problems of modernity rather than the problems of the middle ages.’ So this was regarded as progress….that moment has definitely passed, and these very serious episodes have brought terrific pressure on the government. If you are the only power, you also are the only people to blame, and they know that.