Within less than a week, torrential rains that began on May 5 have left 86 dead, 16 missing and about 275,000 displaced in large parts of south China. Meteorologists warn that heavy downpours will continue to hit the region starting May 12.

The week-long heavy rains have affected 7.8 million people in ten provinces in south China and triggered flash floods, landslides and avalanches. The direct economic loss was estimated at 5.9 billion yuan.

The Central Meteorological Observatory forecasts rainfall heavy enough to cause more floods and landslides in the next three days in the provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan and the Tibetan Autonomous Region, as well as Chongqing Municipality. Some of these areas suffered the worst drought in a century earlier this year.

In north China, severe weather, such as torrential rain, is likely to occur in Beijing, as the city has seen more rainfall than usual this year. According to Beijing Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, 2,000 villages in Beijing have worked out emergency response plans and organized an emergency rescue team of 30,000 members to face the possible danger of flooding.