An intense downpour has forced 37,000 people to flee their homes in Yunxi, central China's Hubei Province, Thursday morning, sources with the local flood control headquarters said.

Torrential rains lashed the Yunxi County of northwestern Hubei from 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM Thursday, with precipitation reaching 184.3 millimeters in certain areas, official with the headquarters said.

Ma'anguan reservoir in the county reached its warning limit of 361.47 meters around 6:00 AM, forcing more than 16,000 residents in the lower reaches of the reservoir to evacuate in less than two hours.

Another 18,000 residents living in villages around four other reservoirs had also been evacuated.

The headquarters has set up 100 tents for the residents and is evaluating the damages.

The last downpour of similar forces, which battered the county on July 28, killed five people and caused an economic loss of more than 150 million yuan (about US$19 million).

Across the country, 1,279 people died and 239 went missing in natural disasters in the first seven months of this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said earlier this week.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)