The city's civil affairs bureau said more than 350,000 people were affected and 19,850 hectares of farmland flooded, leaving losses worth 16.55 million yuan (2.41 million US dollars).

Downtown areas in the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, were almost all flooded with up to a meter of water in places after a six-hour rainstorm over Tuesday night.

The city's traffic was seriously disrupted and many people complained they were late for work as the major avenues were all under water.

More seriously, some junior high students were late for the annual entrance examination to senior high school, which began on Wednesday, but local education authorities allowed latecomers to be given extra time.

The city's international airport was also closed on Tuesday morning as the runways were waist-deep in water. As of 7 P.M., more than 150 flights were delayed and more than 3,500 passengers were stranded.

More than 20 flights to Kunming had to land in the neighboring municipality of Chongqing instead.

The airport reopened at 5 P.M. and flights to Beijing and Shanghai took off. However, at 8 P.M., more than 1,000 passengers waiting still stranded.

More rain was forecast in the next two days and the China Meteorological Administration asked local governments to prepare.

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2008)