国内英语新闻:8 dead, 4 missing in south China rainstorms

GUANGZHOU, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Eight people died and four others were reported missing as rainstorms wreaked havoc in south China's Guangdong Province on Friday.

The casualties were all reported in Xinyi, a small, county-level city in Maoming, the press office of the Communist Party of China Maoming city committee said in a statement on Saturday.

Xinyi was one of the worst-hit areas in Friday's rain, recording 465.5 millimeters of precipitation in 10 hours.

Of the 557,421 Maoming residents who suffered losses from the extreme weather, 542,000 were from Xinyi. Nearly 55,000 were forced to evacuate after their homes were destroyed, according to the statement.

It said direct economic losses surpassed 1 billion yuan (152.7 million U.S. dollars).

The rainstorm stopped on Saturday afternoon.

In the neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, rainstorms damaged roads, embankments and waterlocks, causing 100 million yuan of direct losses to water resources facilities alone.

Flash floods and swollen rivers caused by the downpour trapped more than 1,000 middle school students in their classroom building in Pingzheng Township of Beiliu City on Friday. The local government said the campus was flooded with water a meter deep after the local river burst its banks.

The students were evacuated on Friday night, said Lyu Ji, a township official in Pingzheng.

The rainstorms prompted evacuation of 7,444 people in Guangxi's Yulin City, toppled 124 houses and seriously damaged another 25, the local government said.

China's meteorological authority forecast more rain in southern China on Saturday and Sunday, including Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian and Yunnan.

The National Meteorological Center said these provinces would see precipitation of up to 130 millimeters within 24 hours.