S China downpours affect 2.48 mln people

A total of 2.48 million people have been affected by downpours that have swept south China since Monday, the country's flood control authority said on Thursday.

Heavy rainfall hit Wuhan, Hubei Province?since Tuesday, June 26, 2012. [cnhubei.com]

Torrential rain has caused damage in seven provincial regions, including Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Anhui, according to preliminary calculations by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

In southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region alone, the death toll from week-long rainstorms has hit 10, while another person remained missing, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Heavy rain has also severely damaged 148,000 hectares of crops and left 2,590 houses collapsed in south China, the headquarters said.

The rains triggered flooding from six small and medium-sized rivers in the provincial areas of Hunan, Guangxi, Anhui and Guangdong, and brought the water level near alert lines in Taihu Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake, it said.

Storm-triggered floods have also hit north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, killing 19 people since June 20. Some 2,300 houses were toppled or seriously damaged, and more than 211,000 people are in urgent need of resettlement and aid, figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show.

According to the ministry, the region's civil affairs department has sent work teams to guide local disaster relief work, along with 50 tents and 11,000 cotton quilts.

Meanwhile, severe droughts in most parts of southwest China's Yunnan province have affected more than 7 million people, of which 3 million are suffering drinking water shortages, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Ministry of Public Security.

Local police departments have mobilized more than 50,000 personnel to bring 335,400 tonnes of water to some 14,000 local villages and communities, said the ministry.