(Clearwisdom.net) Xinhua News Agency reported from Shanghai on August 7, 2001:
Today at about 3 pm, there were heavy thunderstorms over parts of Shanghai. Ear-deafening thunderbolts were heard and the downpour was extremely heavy. A continuous series of rainstorms assailing Shanghai before this had already flooded many areas. The heavy thunderstorm today aggravated the flood and left many roads and low-lying residential areas of Shanghai covered in water.
The continual thunderstorms raging over Shanghai these few days were rare occurrences in the past 52 years. The Lujiabin Pumping Station in Huangpu District estimated that the average water level of rainfall from 2pm on August 5 until 2pm on August 6, to be 294 millimeters [about 1 ft], which is very high for a time span of only 24 hours.
The number of heavily flooded roads and homes continually increased in Huangpu, Changning, Zhabei and Yangpu districts. The thunderstorms affected the traffic in some areas. More than 40 traffic lights scattered throughout the city became faulty due to the floods and many cars broke down as their engines failed to ignite. Even the subway was flooded. The lives of the residents were in chaos.
Shanghai Weather Bureau discovered that the thunderstorms were caused by low air pressure circumfluence that moved towards the east and hovered over Shanghai for an extended period of time.
