In Guangdong, at least five people are reported dead and another six injured when a tornado and storms struck the province in the past two days.

The cities of Zhanjiang and Zhaoqing in Guangdong were hit hard by the appalling weather.

And there looks to be little hope of a let up until Monday at the earliest, the local meteorological observatory have forecast.

In Zhanjiang, 181 houses were destroyed in Lianjiang, 231 people from 36 families in Xiayang Village of Yingzai Town were made homeless and more than 6.67 hectares of crops in the village flooded.

Water and electricity supplies in the area have also been cut.

Even the affluent high-tech Shenzhen Special Economic Zone went on red alert three times yesterday and many streets have been hit by flood waters up to a metre deep during the past two days.

Things are getting better in Hunan Province, in Central China, where the rain stopped on Wednesday night.

But more wet weather is forecast for today although it is not expected to cause a repeat of the damage suffered days ago.

Since Monday, the province's Xiangtan area has seen continuous heavy rain, which caused serious landslides and mountain torrents and affected 207,000 people in the region.

The provincial civil affairs authorities moved swiftly to help those affected by allocating an emergency relief fund.

"We have allocated 2 million yuan (US$241,000) to the area as funds to help people afflicted," said Wu Yuejin, an official with the provincial civil affairs bureau in charge of disaster relief in a telephone interview.

In addition, the provincial bureau sent at least 100 tents and clothing to those who lost homes in the landslide. Rescue teams have also been helping farmers pump water out and replant crops, said Wu.

The worst appears to be over, said Luo Guiwen, an official with the prefecture's flood control and drought relief office. And weather forecasters are predicting clear skies in the coming days once Friday's drizzle passes.

Flood peak warnings of 48 to 48.3 metres high that was likely to be formed yesterday failed to materialize by afternoon, said Luo.

In addition to the human casualties, at least 3,800 homes have been damaged, 187 of which are totally destroyed in Hunan.

Direct economic losses are estimated to be around 57.37 million yuan (US$6.91 million).

Some 15,120 hectares of crops have been affected, 15 factories forced to halt production, and 54 roads damaged.

(China Daily June 13, 2003)