Torrential rain and flood this year have killed 95 people and left 21 missing across the country as of Tuesday.

More than 20 million people in 22 provincial areas around the country have been affected by the severe weather, which has led to losses estimated at 10.78 billion yuan (US$1.58 billion), said Zhang Zhitong, an official at the national flood prevention office.

Two of the four tropical cyclones generated in the western Pacific this year have hit China, causing downpours, strong winds and landslides in Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

The heaviest rain this year has hit Jiangxi since Tuesday afternoon, triggering landslides in Huashan village in Shangrao City at about 3:00 AM on Wednesday. Two residents were killed by a house collapse.

Nine people have been killed since Sunday in Guizhou Province. The rain triggered flooding, mud-rock flows and landslides in 31 counties, cities and districts in the mountainous province, affecting 1.53 million people. The severe weather forced 106,500 to flee their homes.

A total of 65,208 hectares of crops were destroyed while 1,990 houses collapsed.

In Hunan Province, some 1.02 million people from 20 counties were affected by torrential rains while 11,000 were evacuated.

Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, experienced the heaviest rain in 27 years on Monday, with 147 millimeters falling in 24 hours up to 8am on Monday.

(Shanghai Daily July 2, 2009)