Nine inbound and outbound flights at Hefei Airport had been disrupted because of the heavy rain yesterday morning, which stranded thousands of passengers, while highway and railway passenger transportation had not been affected.The rain had been mild before 9:30 yesterday morning; however, it was intensified into a strong thunderstorm suddenly. The rain was pouring, accompanied by lightning and thunder, which made it impossible for planes to take off.

Owing to the intensified strong thunderstorm, 5 inbound flights from Dalian, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Beijing and Chengdu had to land on an alternate field or flew back to Nanchang, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Wuhan Airport. Besides, the departure procedures of flights from Hefei to Ningbo, Jinan, Guiyang and Shenzhen have been paused. About 1000 passengers have been blocked at the airport because of the bad weather.The service had not resumed until about 12:00 yesterday noon. 5 inbound flights, which landed on the alternate fields before, arrived at Hefei around 3:00 pm.Buses and trains in Hefei had not been affected by the thunder weather and were able to depart on schedule, according to the road passenger transportation companies and the railways. Officials from Hefei Highway Bureau said that the seven main outlet roads of Hefei, except that Hedian Road was under reconstruction, had been available to pass through.