Rainstorms have left one person dead and three others missing in southwest China's Sichuan Province, local authorities said.

Approximately 28,000 people were relocated during the storms, which raged from Monday night to midday on Tuesday. More than 4,000 houses collapsed and 1,333.3 hectares of cropland was affected with a direct economic loss of 90 million yuan (about US$11.25 million), according to the Sichuan Provincial Disaster Relief Office.

Rainfall in Bazhong's Tongjiang County reached 253 mm in some areas during the past 24 hours, triggering flash floods and causing the rivers in Bazhong to swell, the station said.

The station predicted more heavy rain and storms in different parts of the province in the coming days.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2007)