People walk in floods in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, May 14, 2010. A rainstorm poured into Guangzhou Friday night, which flooded parts of the urban area in the city. [Xinhua]

More than 910,000 people have suffered losses to their property or livelihoods from rainstorms over the past three days in east China's Jiangxi Province, the provincial flood-control and drought relief headquarters announced Friday.

Heavy rains hit 426 townships in 39 counties across Jiangxi, forcing the relocation of more than 2,700 people to safe areas since Wednesday. More than 380 houses had collapsed and almost 110,000 hectares of cropland were damaged.

In April, rainstorms left at least 24 people dead and forced the relocation of 42,000 people.

In the scenic city of Guilin, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, rainstorms had incurred losses to almost 19,000 people as 34 houses collapsed, 1,100 hectares of farmland were inundated and nine embankments were damaged since Thursday night.

The economic damage was estimated at 13.2 million yuan (US$1.9 million), according to Guangxi's flood-control and drought relief headquarters.

In the southern province of Guangdong, the third series of rainstorms this month pelted 32 cities and counties Friday, with rainfall up to 134 mm, the provincial meteorological station said.

The southwestern province of Sichuan forecast more rainfall in the coming week, following frequent rains since May 5 that brought up to 76 millimeters of precipitation.

The provincial meteorological authority has called upon agricultural departments to protect crops in the upcoming harvest season.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2010)