At least 68 people have died as a result of storms sweeping the country since last Wednesday.

And heavy summer rains continue to wreak havoc across China, according to the National Disaster Reduction Center.

Millions of people are in need of relocation as their homes have been destroyed by heavy rain, the centre, under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said in disaster reports on its website yesterday.

Also yesterday the Central Meteorological Office issued a warning for heavy rains expected to hit Huaihe River areas in Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces in Central and East China in the coming days.

Eight people were confirmed dead and another missing in floods in Huludao of Northeast China's Liaoning Province last week.

Heavy showers hit Huludao from early last Thursday until around 8:00 am the next day, bursting dams and causing flash floods in the Wuli and Lianshan rivers that run through the city.

The highest rainfall was reported at 243 millimeters in the city, a record since 1991.

Searches continue for missing people and residents have begun rebuilding their homes, according to the local flood control and drought relief department.

The cost of the floods is still being calculated.

In Yuzhou of Henan Province in Central China, three people were found dead and another one is still missing after rainstorms hit the city and neighboring areas on Sunday. Some areas experienced record rainfalls of 300 millimeters.

Rainstorms caused floods which burst dams in Xiashuihe Village and Shihe Village, leaving three people dead and another one missing. Torrential rain flattened 398 houses and 22 bridges in a dozen townships of the city, causing an economic loss of 20 million yuan (US$2.5 million).

In Zhaotong in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, heavy rain, hail storms, flash floods and landslides have killed 11, injured nine and left six missing.

In neighbouring Sichuan Province, storms unleashed floods and mudslides last week killing 19.

Bad weather has been a major problem this summer, killing at least 349 people in June, when another 99 others went missing, and causing an economic loss of 20.2 billion yuan (US$2.53 billion), according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

Wang Bangzhong, vice-director of the disaster forecasting and relief department of the CMA, said at a press conference yesterday that the most serious climatic disasters in June were rainstorms which caused floods, landslides and mud-rock flows in a dozen of provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in South China.

"We are intensifying our disaster relief efforts while providing aid for the disaster-hit areas as the rainy season is coming," said Zheng Yuanchang, an official in charge of disaster relief at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

While some areas of southwestern and Central China are suffering deluges, East China's Fujian Province will have scorching sun today, with the temperature in most parts of the province reaching more than 35 degree centigrade.

The Central Meteorological Office yesterday released a high-temperature warning as some areas in the province are expected to reach 39 degrees centigrade.

(China Daily July 4, 2006)