Download Beijing's weather department issued a weather alert on Sunday afternoon as torrential rain fell in the capital and a cleaning worker was killed by lightning at Beijing Capital International Airport. Thundershowers are also forecast for Monday morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said. The bureau issued a yellow weather alert at 3 pm, saying flooding was likely in rivers and mountain streams. The meteorological authority uses a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue. From 7 am to 5 pm on Sunday, the average precipitation of the city's main urban area was 23.2 mm and the heaviest was 100.8 mm in the Qinglongqiao area of Haidian district, according to the bureau. Zhang Pu, head of the team that oversees the flood emergency team for the Beijing Drainage Group, said that an emergency plan had been started in the city on Sunday for possible flooding under bridges as more rains were forecast that night. Witnesses at Beijing Capital International Airport said that a worker was found unconscious on the parking lot of Terminal 3 after loud thunder and lightning at 8 am, the Beijing News reported. Airport authorities confirmed he had been struck by lightning. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, the report said. By 5 pm on Sunday, Beijing Capital International Airport had canceled 279 flights and postponed 196 others. Air China canceled 102 flights and rescheduled 39 by the early afternoon. |