Flooding had forced the evacuation of 8,446 people in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region by 9 a.m. Friday, local authorities said.

Heavy rain has lashed Guangxi since Monday, affecting 536,500 people in 18 counties, cities and districts, according to the regional civil affairs bureau.

The rain affected 19,080 hectares of crops, among which 860 hectares were destroyed, and led to the collapse of 1,485 houses.

The flooding also incurred 76.5 million yuan (11.2 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2009)