Lingering rains have affected about 1.07 million people in central China's Hunan province, and more than 30,000 residents have been evacuated to safe locations, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said Wednesday.

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the province had been hit by storms, heavy rains and thunderstorms since Tuesday. And monitoring statistics released by the local meteorological department showed that precipitation in the most affected areas, such as Fenghuang and Chenxi counties, reached 200 mm during the past 24 hours.

The water level of the Yuanjiang River, one of the most important rivers in Hunan, may surpass warning stages, and the Wuqiangxi Reservoir in the basin of the Yuanjiang began to release flood waters on Wednesday morning.

According to the local meteorological department, 595,000 residents in the Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi have been affected by heavy rains, and 33,049 have been evacuated. 35,333 hectares of cropland has been damaged, and direct economic losses total 520 million yuan (82.5 million U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, 1,200 residents in Huihua county have also been evacuated to safe places, and 26 houses have collapsed due to heavy rains. 47,666 hectares of cropland has been damaged, and direct economic losses total 210 million yuan.

Traffic, telecommunications and power supplies have also been suspended in Mayang and Chenxi counties.

The local meteorological department forecast that rains will continue in the coming days and may trigger floods and landslides, and it required relevant departments to strengthen measures to prevent or reduce damage from natural disasters