Heavy downpours hit Beijing on Friday afternoon and caused floods and traffic jams in many areas.

Vehicles backed up streets soon after the storms started at about 5:40 PM.

The rain was so heavy that the maximum recorded was 74 mm in the southwest Fengtai District within two hours.

Authorities said traffic was only normal in parts of the third and fourth ring roads -- Beijing is surrounded by half a dozen such roads -- but downtown areas were heavily congested.

Along with the rain, hail fell on parts of northern Beijing for five minutes.

Some flights were cancelled at Beijing Capital International Airport in the northeast part of the city.

In some areas, pools of rain on the roads were knee height, and many cars stalled in the floods. Many people had to take off their shoes and walk home.

Xinhua reporter Li Huizi took more than one hour to drive across the 2-km Chengfu Road in the northwest Haidian District starting at about 6:00 PM.

"The water is as high as a car wheel. Three of the four lanes were inundated. Many cars broke down on the roads," she said.

Zhou Mei, a local resident in Haidian district, had to leave her car at the West Third Ring Road after it broke down in the water. She took off her shoes and carried her son home on her back.

"The government should do something about the drainage system," Zhou said.

The rainfall totals were uneven. Some places had torrential downpours, while others got only minor precipitation. The rain eased at about 7:00 PM in parts of downtown Beijing.

The Beijing Municipal Meteorological Bureau issued a storm warning at 5:50 PM. Rainstorms were expected to hit downtown Beijing and the northeastern part of the sprawling capital over a six-hour period, forecasters said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2008)