Unremitted heavy rainstorms left three dead and three others missing in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, sources with the local flood control department said Thursday.

The source said 98 counties in Shaanxi have been hit by rainstorms since Sunday.

The rainstorms trigger floods, mountain torrents and mud-rock flow in the counties of Zhenping, Pingli, Baihe, Shangnan and Zuoshui, affecting more than 180,000 people.

The disasters toppled more than 600 houses and destroyed about 50,000 mu (about 3333 hectares) of farmland, causing a direct economic loss of nearly 100 million yuan (about US$12.2 million).

The local meteorological station said the rainstorms will not come to a halt until Monday.

Civil affairs departments of all levels in Shaanxi are in full swing of relocating the homeless.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2005)