Heavy rain causes floods in southern China

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Rainstorms since early this week have swept through a wide swathe of southern China, leaving dozens of people dead or missing and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate.

In Jiangxi Province, two people have been killed, three more are missing and more than 100,000 have been evacuated following the heaviest rain this summer.

Flood submerges houses at the Xinyuan village in Ruijin, a city of east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2009. More than 60,000 people have been transfered due to the flood caused by heavy rainfall in south Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Song Zhenping)

The rain damaged 178,000 hectares of crops and caused more than 8000 houses to collapse. Direct economic losses are estimated at 1.3 billion yuan. In one flooded county, the average water level is two meters, and the maximum depth, 4.

By 3 p.m. Friday, average rainfall in the province was 97.4 millimeters. In one town, the maximum topped 540 millimeters. The province issued its first highest level rainstorm alarm in history.

Civil administration, water and transport departments have dispatched relief teams.

In Hunan Province, storm-related disasters have killed seven and left one missing. Over a hundred thousand hectares of crops are ruined.

Traffic was disrupted on dozens of roads and 150 businesses had to halt production.