Yuehai Railway overrun by tropical storm in Guangdong

Part of the rail link to the island province of Hainan on the Chinese mainland reopened to traffic on Monday afternoon, 66 hours after it was closed by torrential rain during tropical storms.

Torrential currents inundated the rail-bed and distorted rails at 33 locations on a 70-km section of the Yuehai Railway between Leizhou and Xuwen, Guangdong Province, leading to its closure at 11:08 p.m. Friday.

The railway reopened to traffic at 5:36 p.m. on Monday after repairs carried out by more than 1,000 workers. Soldiers and armed police stationed nearby also joined the repair work.

Five trains, carrying 6,057 people on the line on Friday evening, stopped or turned back.

Tropical storms Pabuk and Wutip brought torrential rains to south China's Guangdong Province, resulting in flooding affecting about 1.2 million people and destroying more than 3,000 houses and causing damage worth 1.34 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the tropical storms offered temporary relief to the lingering drought in southeastern coastal provinces of China with moderate precipitation.

Downpours and rainstorms were recorded in Wenzhou and Taizhou, in Zhejiang Province, which had suffered more than 20 days of sweltering heat.

Heavy rains also brought relief to 65,500 people and 30,300 hectares of scorched farmland in Fujian Province.

Editor: Yan