Floods and landslides have killed 381 people in central and southern China and left more than 200,000 people homeless.

　　Chenxi County of Hunan Province had one of its worst floods in 100 years when the crest of the Yuanjiang, the third largest branch of the Yangtze River, poured into the county early yesterday.

　　With a peak of 125.89 meters, 5.89 meters higher than the warning line, the floods hit the county at 2am, leaving 445,000 people badly affected, including 135,000 made homeless, more than 80 injured and two missing.

　　The local government said 250 rescue vehicles and 35 rescue ships, 10,000 public servants and more than 200,000 local residents were mobilized to combat the flooding.

　　Flooding and landslides killed 27 people from Saturday to yesterday in the mountainous southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

　　On Tuesday, landslides in Yingjiang County in Yunnan Province also left 54 people missing.

　　The mudflow washed away 54 people at the Lushan, Zhidong and Nongpo villages.

　　Two rescue teams consisting of servicemen, armed police and medical workers have arrived at the disaster-hit areas.

　　The local government has shipped large amounts of plastic bags, garments, quilts and food to the victims.

　　But people have to physically carry relief materials because roads leading to the affected villages have been blocked.

　　By last night, 747 people in 248 households in the affected areas had been evacuated.

　　China News Service said 381 people have been killed by recent rains - 75 percent of them in mudslides.

　　In addition, three women were killed by lightning on Tuesday on the southern tropical island of Hainan while seeking shelter under a tree.

　　Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday required relevant local governments to put people first in their flood control and disaster relief work.

　　Major rivers in central China and the south were surging toward dangerous levels, with more rain forecast in coming days, state television said yesterday.

　　Nearly 110,000 people were forced to move to higher ground in Hunan Province as the Zishui and Yanshui rivers and Dongting Lake rose above danger levels.

　　Some areas of Hunan Province received more than 200 millimeters of rain in a 24-hour period ending Tuesday night.

　　In the hard-hit Chenxi County, a landslide has put the Changtianwan Reservoir, a medium-sized reservoir, at risk.

　　Local officials, soldiers and civilians are making all-out efforts to safeguard the reservoir.

　　Local sources confirmed seventeen smaller reservoirs in the province are also at risk.

　　Zhou Bohua, governor of Hunan Province, has urged local officials to fight flooding, promote relief work and guard against any possible outbreak of epidemic diseases in the flood-stricken areas.

　　In the giant southwestern city of Chongqing, 12,100 people were evacuated and losses to flooding were estimated at 281 million yuan (US$34 million).

　　China suffers scores of deaths each summer in flooding and landslides triggered by torrential seasonal rain, despite a network of river dikes and other emergency preparations.

　　Earlier this week, the central government ordered the evacuation of residents from runoff channels and low-lying land that might become flooded if authorities decide to blow up river dikes in order to lower water levels and protect cities downstream.

　　Heavy rain also hit the southern province of Guangdong, a densely populated manufacturing center that borders Hong Kong, causing a flood crest to sweep down the Xihe River.

　　(Xinhua/AP)