GUANGZHOU, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Thunderstorms in south China's Guangdong Province have forced 227 flights to be canceled and 88 to be delayed at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.
The adverse weather conditions eased at night. As of 7:25 p.m. Friday, the number of delayed flights had dropped to 71. About 27 flights bound for Guangzhou had been forced to land at other airports.
The local weather forecast bureau said thunderstorms will last until 12 p.m.
Heavy rain continued in Guangdong after Typhoon Merbok hit the province earlier this week. The provincial civil affairs authorities reported that as of 6 p.m. Friday, heavy rain had swamped 15,000 hectares of farmland, and 66 houses had collapsed, with direct economic losses of around 280 million yuan (about 40 million U.S. dollars).
In the city of Meizhou, rain caused landslides which killed two people.
