A rainy weather forecast for Sunday and Monday would worsen the flooding of Xiangjiang River in central China's Hunan Province, which had already left one dead and more than 900,000 people suffering from property losses, said local authorities in Changsha on Sunday.

The provincial weather department forecast that rain with strong gale would hit the province again from Sunday evening to Monday.

Flood water from the river has gushed into 304 townships of 27 counties in the province, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

At least 4,600 houses collapsed and 39,970 hectares farmland were flooded, and the direct economic loss from the river's flood has reached 446 million yuan (about US$65.3 million), it said in a statement on Sunday.

The water level began to drop below the danger mark at the lower reaches of the river in Changsha, the provincial capital, on Saturday.

A week-long rainy weather starting on April 17 have brought an average rainfall of 112 mm to the river areas, causing the river's water level to rise by 3 meters to 6 meters.

The headquarters said the flood has caused damages on 13 small-sized reservoirs and 296 breaches of the river's embankments.

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2010)