Heavy rains to hit S China

 BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Strong downpours and thunderstorms are expected to sweep south China over the coming three days, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast Monday.

The storms will hit hardest in regions south of the Yangtze River, including the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangxi, where precipitation is expected to surpass 200 mm within a 24-hour period, the NMC said.

Some areas in northwest China, including the Inner Mongolia autonomous¹ region, will be pounded by thunderstorms or hail, the observatory² said.

The center maintained a rainstorm alert this morning, as heavy rains or rainstorms are expected to hit regions in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

NMC urged local authorities to prepare for floods in rain-soaked southern regions and take action to prevent possible rain-triggered natural disasters.

Heavy rains in central and south China have killed dozens and forced thousands to evacuate³ in recent days.

Rainstorms have left at least 11 people dead and damaged the homes of 980,000 residents in Guizhou, while floods have killed eight people and affected⁴ over 2 million others in Hubei. Anhui and Hunan provinces have also been hit hard by heavy rains over the past few days.

1 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

2 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。