BEIJING, July 31 -- The Ministry of Water Resources has maintained a Level-II emergency response to floods in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in the north of the country.

A ministry official in charge of flood and drought response said on Monday that the ministry has deployed 10 work teams for flood response in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei as well as other provinces and municipalities.

A bulletin released Monday by the ministry said that the Haihe River basin in northern China has reported "relatively big" flooding, and that heavy rains and rainstorms are expected to continue in the region through Tuesday.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday also raised the emergency response for flooding to Level II in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Henan.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most urgent response.

Heavy downpours have drenched parts of north China since Saturday, with some regions seeing maximum hourly precipitation reaching 40 to 90 millimeters. The rain has forced the evacuation of over 20,000 people in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province.