The severe weather continued to move northward, resulting in more cities being flooded and crops destroyed. The official Xinhua news agency stated that there have been direct economic losses of 1.22 billion yuan ($189 million) so far. The storm alert for four cities in Henan - Xinxiang, Anyang, Hebi, and Jiaozuo - was raised to red, the highest level of a four-step colour-coded weather warning system. Tragically, 12 people lost their lives when the subway in Zhengzhou was flooded earlier in the week, with eight others reported missing across the province. In Anyang, more than 73,000 individuals were evacuated due to over 600 mm of rainfall since Monday. Xinhua reported that Xinxiang, a small city north of Zhengzhou, experienced a record-breaking 812 mm of rainfall between Tuesday and Thursday. This led to seven medium-sized reservoirs overflowing, impacting numerous villages and towns nearby. As of late Wednesday, more than 470,000 people and over 55,000 hectares of crops were affected by the heavy rainfall in Xinxiang. In response, the local government mobilized a search and rescue team of over 76,000 individuals. In the neighboring city of Baoding in Hebei, two individuals lost their lives due to a tornado. Additionally, the fatal flooding of the Zhengzhou subway prompted the government to instruct local authorities to enhance urban transit flood controls and emergency responses immediately. Media images showed commuters standing in chest-deep waters inside dark train cabins, with one underground station resembling a large swirling pool. The Ministry of Transport called for local authorities to immediately review and address any hidden risks on the rail transit system. The ministry recommended emergency actions such as halting train services, evacuating passengers, and closing stations during extreme weather events like the recent intense storms. Over the span of Saturday to Tuesday, Zhengzhou received 617.1 mm (24.3 inches) of rain, nearly matching the city's average annual rainfall of 640.8 mm (25.2 inches). There has been public attention on the punctuality of weather alerts given by local meteorological services. The provincial weather bureau stated that they had released a report predicting heavy rains two days before they occurred. From Monday evening, meteorological departments at various levels have sent out 120 million text messages to mobile phone users to alert them about the storms, according to the Henan weather bureau.