Since the flooding season began in China, floods in 16 provinces in southern China had left 41 people dead and eight missing from April 1 to June 8, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said Tuesday.

Heavy rain hit Hunan Province June 8, 2009. [Sanxiang City Express]

About 5.63 million people were hit by floods, triggered by rainfalls of up to 300 to 500 mm in some regions, 6.82 million mu (454,667 hectares) of crops were threatened, and 6,500 homes collapsed, in provinces such as Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong.

The central observatory warned Tuesday provinces in east and south China, such as Hunan and Guangxi, would continue to suffer heavy rains and rainstorms coupling with lightning Wednesday.

In the meantime, regions in north China were suffering from a severe drought, with Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia being the worst hit, according to the headquarters.

It added that 119 million mu of crops were stricken by the drought, and 3.36 million people and 4.65 million livestocks were short of drinking water because of the drought from January 1 June 8.