The death toll from torrential rains in China rose to 23 on Tuesday as three more deaths were confirmed in the central Hubei Province.

The three dead were killed by thunder and lightning as a thunderstorm ripped through some areas in Hubei. Yingshan County received as much as 29.1 millimeters of rain within an hour on Tuesday.

According to the Wuhan Meteorological Observatory, the weather will turn favorable on Wednesday with rising temperatures.

The China Meteorological Administration warned on Tuesday that torrential rains would hit the eastern and central part of the country over the next three days, which increased the possibility of floods and mud-rock flows.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters issued a warning on Tuesday, urging the provinces to keep a close watch on the weather change and to take responsibility to ward off the possible danger.

Zhejiang issued a yellow torrential rain warning when most parts of the eastern province were likely to receive heavy rainfall measuring as much as 50 millimeters.

Strong lightning was also forecast in this region.

Flooding and hail triggered by torrential rain have left 18 dead and 12 missing in the southwestern Guizhou Province.

A total of 166 people were injured and more than 4,600 have been evacuated since the flooding and hail began to hit Guiyang City, capital of Guizhou, on Sunday night.

As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, more than 538,000 people in 17 cities and counties in Guizhou were affected. About 6,700 houses were reduced to rubble or damaged.

In the central Hunan, torrential rain had pounded parts of province since Monday night, leaving two dead and another four missing in Yuanling County.

Nearly 90,000 people in Yuanling were affected by the strong rain that triggered floods, landslides and damaged houses, roads, crops, power supplies and telecom networks, a county government spokesman said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2008)