More than 588,000 people have been evacuated in central China's Hunan as rivers swell in the wake of typhoon Sepat, which has left two people dead and seven missing in the province.

Major tributaries of the Xiangjiang River in Hunan have reported dangerous or even record water levels on Thursday after torrential rains swept the province for five days.

Two people have been confirmed dead and seven are still missing in Hunan from the rainstorms since Sunday, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

The Ganxi hydrological station of the Mishui River, a major tributary of the Xiangjiang River, reported a flood crest of 57.56 meters at 5:00 AM on Thursday, 52 centimeters higher than previous record of 57.04 meters set in 1982, the headquarters said.

The level of the Xiangjiang River at the Hengshan hydrological station was 51.55 meters at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, 2.55 meters higher than warning levels, the headquarters said.

The section of the Xiangjiang River between Zhuzhou and Changsha, capital of Hunan, continued to rise due to heavy rains upstream.

Around 15,000 army and militia personnel, and 740,000 officials and residents have been mobilized to carry out evacuations and flood prevention operations.

Thirty-nine people had died and nine others were missing following the trail of destruction left by Typhoon Sepat in eastern-central Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan provinces, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2007)