BEIJING -- Floods have left 26 people dead and 8 missing in central China's Hubei Province, a spokesman with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Tuesday.

About 71,000 people had been relocated by 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

More than 8,600 houses collapsed and another 44,800 were damaged as a result of heavy rain which began lashing central, southwest and northeast areas of Hubei Province on June 27.

Altogether 160,700 hectares of farmland were affected, with agricultural losses estimated at 596 million yuan (about 78 million U.S. dollars) while total direct economic losses could reach 1.79 billion yuan, according to the spokesman.

The ministry has sent working teams to the flood-stricken areas to direct disaster relief activities.