国内英语新闻:47 dead, 22 missing after flood hits Hunan, Guangxi

CHANGSHA/NANNING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 47 people died and 22 are missing as floods wreaked havoc in central China's Hunan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south.

In Hunan, heavy rain starting on June 22 has killed 27 people with 8 missing.

The ensuing floods have forced the evacuation of more than 1.2 million people. More than 38,000 homes collapsed and nearly 880,000 hectares of crops were damaged. The water levels in Dongting Lake and several major rivers all rose above warning levels.

About 15,000 people have been sent to the front line and over 160 million yuan (23.5 million U.S. dollars) has been allocated to disaster relief in Hunan.

Rain is forecast to weaken in Hunan in the next few days, but heavy rain is expected in some areas.

In Guangxi, rain since Saturday has killed 20 people and left 14 missing. Around 20,000 houses collapsed or were damaged.

The disaster has inflicted direct economic losses of nearly 4.6 billion yuan. Local authorities have allocated 10 million yuan to the affected areas.