Rainstorms kill six, affect over 1 million

NANCHANG - Rainstorms have battered southern and eastern China over the past five days, killing six people in Hunan Province, local authorities said Saturday.

Contiuous strong rain started to hit the central China province on Monday killing six people, the Hunan provincial flood prevention and drought control headquarters said.

As of Saturday, rainstorms have affected about 850,000 people, toppled more than 2,200 homes and forced 14,000 citizens to relocate in Hunan.

Heavy rainfall has also led to the flooding of major reservoirs and rivers.

Rainstorms have affected about 196,800 people in east China's Jiangxi Province, local authorities said Saturday.

As of 11 p.m. Friday, the heavy rain, which started from Tuesday, has battered 26 counties in Jiangxi, the provincial flood prevention and drought control headquarters said.

Local governments have relocated 6,019 residents to avoid potential risks.

The downpours have also damaged or destroyed 202 houses and ruined 16,710 hectares of crops, as well as causing high water levels of rivers and lakes, and several landslides.

Flood prevention authorities in Jiangxi warned of floods on Thursday due to the rising rivers and lakes.

The headquarters also ordered several reservoirs in the province to release water as levels had gone over or were approaching alarm lines because of the heavy rain.

No casualties have been reported as a result of the rainfall in Jiangxi.