Many current shelters have seating areas and offer water, soft drinks, heatstroke medication, and even Wi-Fi, TVs, and ping-pong tables.
Several cities across China have set up their air-raid shelters to offer residents relief from the heat at a time when unusually high temperatures are beginning to claim lives in parts of the country.
Northern China is experiencing long days of record high temperatures exacerbated by drought. Earlier this week, Beijing recorded nine consecutive days of temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, according to the National Climate Center, a streak not seen since 1961.
Hangzhou, on the east coast; Wuhan, in the center of the country; and Shijiazhuang, in Hebei province neighboring Beijing, have opened their bomb shelters to residents wishing to escape the heat.
Authorities have issued health alerts and outdoor works have been suspended in the capital and other towns.
So far, two deaths have been attributed to the sweltering heat. Health authorities reported that a tour guide fainted and died of heat stroke while walking through the Summer Palace, a huge 18th-century imperial garden. Last month, a woman in Beijing also died of heat stroke.
Health authorities in Shaoxing, a city neighboring Hangzhou, said on Thursday there had been heat-related deaths, but gave no details.
Cities like Chongqing in the southwest, known for their hot summers, have used their air defense tunnels as public shelters from the heat for years.
Chinese cities built bomb shelters during the Japanese invasion in 1937. Construction resumed in the late 1950s as relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated and Beijing feared a nuclear attack.
Many current shelters have seating areas and offer water, soft drinks, heatstroke medication, and even Wi-Fi, TVs, and ping-pong tables.
Meteorological authorities on Thursday warned of a severe drought in northern China that is threatening crops and overloading power grids. Meanwhile, in southern China, heavy flooding has displaced thousands of people in recent weeks.
Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week already ranked as the hottest on record.
Source: Latercera
I am David Jack and I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years. As an experienced journalist, I specialize in covering sports news with a focus on golf. My articles have been published by some of the most respected publications in the world including The New York Times and Sports Illustrated.
