While the people in the southern part of China are holding their breath, super typhoon Rammasun is expected to make its final landfall between western Guangdong province and the island province of Hainan. But with new government protocols in place, it seems the citizens of Beijing can feel a little more confident when faced with future extreme weather conditions.

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A new emergency response plan was released Wednesday by the municipal government of Beijing. Here it is advised for employers and schools to be flexible in their scheduling when extreme weather, such as heavy rainstorms, is emerging.

When a red alert, the most serious warning, occurs, the municipal departments must put forward their best efforts to protect the citizens. Kindergartens and schools should be closed, and companies must adjust employee working schedules.

Different warning alarms will be issued by the municipality, taking into consideration factors such as scale of rainfall, traffic conditions, and pre-warning forecasts, after which warnings will be sent directly to citizens' cell phones.

The reason that the municipality thought it necessary to define a new emergency plan is due to several serious incidents of extreme weather that have already occurred in the past couple months. As late as Wednesday, a sudden storm with heavy rainfall hit the city's northwestern area with an average rainfall of around 19 mm, causing a blue alarm - which is the lowest level.

The heaviest rainfall occurred in the Haidian district.

No one was reported injured, but there was some material damage including 18 cars which were submerged in floodwater due to being parked on low roads. Reportedly, tree branches were blocking drainage holes, causing water to build up quickly.

To prevent this from happening in the future, some major roads in downtown areas which are particularly prone to flooding have been improved with more powerful pumps - these aim to drain water more efficiently.

After the capital experienced a death toll of 79 in July 2012 due to extreme storms, Beijing has made continuous efforts to increase its flood-control ability in order to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

TagsBeijing flood, China Typhoon, beijing weather plans