The flood disaster triggered by this round of heavy rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River has caused great loss.

Flood submerges an agricultural enterprise in Taoxi Township of Shucheng County, east China's Anhui Province, July 3, 2016. Rainstorm has battered Shucheng County since June 30, ripping a breach on a dyke of the Fengle River on July 2. More than 10,000 villagers have been tranferred to safe places overnight. [Photo: Xinhua/Xiang Chunlei]

More than 20 million people in 11 provinces have been affected, resulting in 128 deaths as of Tuesday. Another 42 people are missing. More than one million people have been relocated. Nearly two million hectares of crops have been affected, with about one-sixth of them completely destroyed. The direct economic loss caused by the flood is currently estimated at about 38 billion yuan or 5.7 billion US dollars.

A grade-4 emergency response has been issued for flood-hit Hunan and Guizhou provinces. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the China National Commission for Disaster Reduction have sent teams to assist relief work on the ground.