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BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China's meteorological authority renewed its blue alert for rainstorms in the south of the country on Saturday morning.
Torrential rain, accompanied by winds and hailstorms, is expected to lash parts of Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hebei, Henan and Yunnan over the next 24 hours, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on its website.
The areas will see as much as 90 mm of precipitation.
The center suggested people avoid outdoor activities, and that local authorities take precautions against urban waterlogging and natural disasters including landslides and mud-rock flows.
China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
As of Wednesday, continuous rainfall had left 237 people dead and 93 others missing in China, causing direct economic losses of 147 billion yuan (22 billion U.S. dollars).
