150,000 people evacuated in S China downpour

Local resident Wang Jinmin stands in his flooded home in Wanning City, south China's Hainan Province, Dec. 15, 2013. Heavy rain continued to hit Wanning City from Friday night to Sunday. A total of 80,000 residents have been transferred to safe regions. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongfeng)

Some 150,000 people have been evacuated after heavy rainfall has inundated villages and townships in south China's Hainan Province since Friday, local authorities said on Sunday.

Precipitation has reached 510 mm in parts of Wanning City in Hainan, and an average of 300 mm in eight townships around the city since Friday.

Authorities have dispatched speedboats to evacuate local residents from flooded areas.

Hainan Meteorological Service said the rain is expected to last through Monday in the east of the province. It said the weather poses challenges for rescue work and warned of floods and landslides in rain-battered areas.