BEIJING -- Floods have left 36 people dead and 13 missing in central China's Hubei Province and the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, and Guizhou Province.

About 8.7 million people had been affected and 292,000 relocated by Wednesday as a result of the floods, a spokesman with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) said on Wednesday.

Heavy rains also triggered landslides and mudflows, deluged croplands, blocked roads, and cut off telecommunications, electricity and drinking water supplies in some areas.

More than 17,000 homes were destroyed and crops on 480,400 hectares were affected. Agricultural losses stood at 900 million yuan (US$116 million) while the total losses stood at 1.32 billion yuan.

"The rain is continuing in those areas and the risk of disasters will increase," the spokesman said.

The MCA has dispatched a team to the region to assist relief work.