Rainstorms batter southern China, killing 2

BEIJING - Rainstorms have battered several southern Chinese provinces this week, toppling homes and killing a woman and her granddaughter in Hunan Province.

A view of flooded street after heavy rain in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Aug 21, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

The woman, 49, was buried together with the child in the rubble of their home that was washed down by flash floods in Shimen county Monday night, the provincial flood relief headquarters in Hunan said in a press release Tuesday.

Shimen county reported over 300 mm of precipitation in the 24 hours from 8 am Monday to 8 am Tuesday, it said.

Incomplete figures showed torrential rain destroyed 106 homes and forced more than 800 people to evacuate in the county, which has a population of 673,500.

The downpour also destroyed roads, swelled 14 reservoirs, disrupted power supplies and caused landslides in many areas in the northwest of Hunan Province, the document said.

Meanwhile, flood prevention authorities in the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region also warned of floods Tuesday on two swelling tributaries of the Pearl River, the country's third longest waterway after the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers.

Water levels in the Yujiang and Zuojiang rivers had topped their alarm lines as a result of floods in the upper reaches, the regional flood prevention and drought control headquarters said.

As of 8 pm, the water level in Zuojiang was 1.07 meters above the danger line, while that of Yujiang River was an alarming 41.2 meters higher than the alarm level at one hydrological station near the regional capital, Nanning.

The local government has warned citizens to be on guard against dangers and called for round-the-clock monitoring of embankments.

Rainstorm also wreaked havoc in many parts of the central Hubei Province Monday and Tuesday. In Yichang city alone, 400 homes were toppled and more than 1,800 people were evacuated.

A thunderstorm also delayed 70 flights and canceled 16 others at a major airport in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province.

Thunder and lightning also forced 32 incoming flights to land in the neighboring cities of Shantou, Xiamen, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

The local weather bureau said the stormy weather may last for some time due to the arrival of typhoon Tembin.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Tuesday issued a blue alert for the typhoon.

As of 5:00 pm, Tembin was located at 470 km southeast of Eluanbi, the southernmost point of Taiwan, packing winds of 172.8 km per hour, the NMC said.

The storm is expected to move toward eastern Taiwan at a speed of 10 to 15 km per hour while gathering force along the way, bringing heavy winds to the area, it said.

Typhoon Tembin, the 14th named storm of the 2012 Pacific typhoon season, has brought heavy rains to the northern Philippines, triggering landslides and flash floods that have left thousands displaced.