Floods triggered by tropical storm Bilis are finally retreating in China's coastal provinces after at least 204 people died, local officials said.

In Guangdong Province, the worst hit, people struggled to cope with water shortages, ravaged roads and other damage, the China News Service reported yesterday.

Moreover, traffic, water, electricity and communications have returned to normal in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

But rain was still forecast for Hunan and Guangdong provinces today and tomorrow.

To better deal with the disastrous floods, the Ministry of Civil Affairs activated Grades 4 and 3 of the emergency response mechanism, Xinhua said.

A round-the-clock alert towards possible geological disasters issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources remained in effect.

During a field visit to Hunan, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged authorities and governments in disaster-hit areas to take effective relief measures to relocate those who had lost their homes and to curb the spread of infectious diseases.

Hui said storm-ravaged areas still face great challenges, asking governments at all levels to take effective measures to prevent more possible disasters and ensure safety of major rivers and reservoirs in the flooding season.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters have sent a dozen of task forces to check flood prevention and control efforts along major rivers.

Hui warned local officials of their duty in flood control, asking them to take measures against possible spread of epidemics in flood-hit areas.

The vice-premier also urged local governments to help farmers restart farming production in disaster-ravaged areas to minimize the damage to crop growth and harvest.

Geological disaster supervision, patrol work and risk appraisal must focus on flood control of small and medium-sized rivers and reservoirs while being on alert for large-scale ones, Hui noted.

Fed by the tropical storm Bilis, heavy rainfall in a large area over a longer time span than usual has led to the disastrous storms in Guangdong during the past days, said Wang Dongxiao, an oceanographer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Statistics indicated that as many as 92 people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 are missing in Hunan.

Bilis the fourth tropical storm of the season, which that landed on the mainland on Friday also claimed 43 lives in Fujian Province and 44 in Guangdong.

Furthermore, 557 reservoirs in the region were forced to discharge floodwater yesterday because of the torrential rains.

Direct economic losses from the storm totalled 12 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) after 160,000 hectares of crops and 113,000 houses were destroyed, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on its website yesterday.

Bilis triggered heavy rainfall and severe floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong provinces and Guangxi when it came ashore.

(China Daily July  19, 2006)