Heavy rains and floods in south and central China had killed 211 people and left 119 missing as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

More than 29 million people in southern and central provinces -- Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan and Guizhou -- have been affected by the inclement weather, with about 2.4 million people evacuated, a statement from the ministry said Wednesday.

More than 1.6 million hectares of farmland had been flooded, with 17.1 percent of the crops completely destroyed.

About 215,000 homes had collapsed and 594,000 others damaged.

Total economic losses are estimated at 43.3 billion yuan (6.36 billion U.S. dollars).

The ministry of Civil Affairs raised the level of emergency response plan to from level III to II at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Under the level II plan, the ministry should set up a headquarters to coordinate relief work and dispatch a relief team to disaster areas in 24 hours.

Red Cross Society of China has donated 6 million yuan the affected provinces on Wednesday, in addition to relief materials worth of about 4 million yuan.

More than 15,500 soldiers, militiamen and military reserves have been dispatched to relief missions in the Nanjing Military Command, evacuating more than 75,200 people in Fuzhou city, of Jiangxi.

China's air force has deployed 15 aircraft on 18 missions, delivering 155 tons of relief materials to areas in Jiangxi Province.