8 killed, 9 missing after flood hits south China

NANNING - Eight people have been confirmed dead after a rainstorm-triggered flood hit Quanzhou County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said Monday.

As of 11 p.m. Sunday, nine people in Quanzhou had been reported missing and another 34 injured, according to the county's publicity department.

The sustained rainfall has caused more than 250,000 people to suffer property losses, left over 600 houses collapsed and damaged around 17,000 hectares of cropland. The county's direct economic loss reached 1.46 billion yuan (around $215 million), the department said.

Nearly 38,000 people have been relocated. The local government has allocated tents, quilts, instant noodle, bottled water and medicine to disaster areas. Temporary shelter has been set up in some schools.

On Sunday, China's flood control authority said that water levels in more than 60 rivers in southern China were above the warning levels due to sustained rainfalls in recent days.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast that rainstorms will hit Guangxi and Hunan from Sunday night to Monday night with precipitation up to 110 millimeters.