Storms that have pounded South China since the weekend are easing. But disaster relief efforts are intensifying.

Over 300 staff and students are trapped at this boarding school in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Floods have submerged the first floor.

Rescuers are getting supplies in before further rescue efforts.

Floods also trapped hundreds of villagers in Huai'qun town. Rescuers broke the dam and channeled the waters away.

In Luocheng county, armed police blew up part of a reservoir to let water drain. 15,000 residents living downstream had already been relocated. They stay either at temporary shelters, or with relatives or friends..

In Fujian province, five people are dead and two are missing; In Jiangxi province, five people have died and 230-thousand people have fled their homes. 8 deaths have been reported in Hunan Province, with 140-thousand forced to evacuate. Over three hundred thousand people have been relocated in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Direct losses there stand at one-and-a-half billion yuan.

The central government has allocated 126 million yuan and 5,200 disaster relief tents to the six worst-hit areas.

(CCTV July 7, 2009)