Gales and downpours brought by Typhoon Bolaven swept through parts of northeast China from Tuesday evening to Wednesday, flooding cities and delaying flights.

Bolaven entered the East China Sea on Monday, bringing rare rainstorms and gales to northeast China's inland provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin starting from Tuesday evening, local authorities said.

Heilongjiang's provincial meteorological station issued blue alerts for downpours and gales Wednesday morning. Chinese meteorological authorities use a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

As of Wednesday afternoon, rainstorms in Heilongjiang had affected 270,000 people. More than 600 people have been forced to evacuate their homes, said an official with the provincial civil affairs department.

The storm has also seriously damaged 107,000 hectares of crops in the province. Direct economic losses are estimated at 230 million yuan (36.5 million U.S. dollars), said the official.

Meanwhile, strong winds uprooted many trees in Changchun, capital of Jilin, and flooded several parts of the city.

Typhoon Bolaven also delayed all flights to the Republic of Korea and left over 1,000 passengers stranded at the Longjia International Airport in Changchun, according to the airport.

The Changchun municipal government has arranged for 20,000 workers to drain flooded areas and take part in emergency rescue efforts.

Local education authorities have suspended classes in both Changchun and Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang.

Bolaven also wreaked havoc in the eastern province of Shandong, affecting the lives of 463,000 people, forcing the evacuation of 44,400 and damaging thousands of homes as of Wednesday, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

No casualties have been reported in those provinces so far.