South China's Guangdong Province was facing the threat of serious flooding as two swollen rivers converged in the Pearl River Delta on Monday, resulting in a flood equivalent to a worst in 50 years.

The runoff in Xijiang River was 46,800 cubic meters per second and in Beijiang River 15,200 cubic meters per second before they met each other in Foshan City, according to the Guangdong provincial headquarters of flood control and drought relief, which said this was far higher than normal.

The danger of serious flooding is made worse by the pull from the moon, which is rising to its most powerful point in the month on Wednesday, posing a threat for river embankments across the delta, experts said.

More rains were forecast in the upstream areas of Xijiang and Beijiang Rivers in next two days.

The Guangdong provincial flood control headquarters on Monday ordered local governments to reinforce river embankments in nine cities, including Guangzhou and to prepare to evacuate people in danger.

The Pearl River Delta is a major manufacturing base of the country, while Guangdong posted a gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 2.59 trillion yuan (US$375 billion) in 2006, ranking the first on the Chinese mainland.

Recent rainstorms and floods have affected 5.76 million people in 17 cities in Guangdong, including 20 deaths and eight missing persons.

Continuous downpours had cut seven national highways and 68 provincial ones in Guangdong, causing an economic loss of 600 million yuan. Seven provincial highways remained paralyzed on Monday while the others have been repaired.

At least 57 people have been killed and 1.27 million people relocated as rainstorms and floods ravaged nine provinces and region in south China and affected 17.87 million people, authorities said on Sunday.

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region bordering Guangdong on Monday also ordered two cities along the Xijiang River to reinforce embankments as heavy rains continued.

More than 70,000 people were relocated on Monday in Guangxi, bringing the total number of relocated people to 916,000. More than 7.5 million people have been affected as of 6:00 PM on Monday, the regional civil affairs department said.

Storms hit 12 towns in southern parts of Guizhou Province on Sunday and Monday, leaving more than 400 houses inundated and crops damaged.

Hunan Province to the north of Guangdong on Monday claimed victory in fighting the first flood in the province this year with the flood crest passing the provincial capital of Changsha safely, despite two monitoring stations recorded highest water level in the history.

One people died and another was missing in Hunan's flood, which also toppled down houses and cut off roads.

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2008)