英语文摘:Death toll in China torrential rains hit 107

BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Rainstorms and consequent floods have left 107 people dead and 59 missing in ten provinces and municipalities -- mostly along the Yangtze River as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Latest figures from the ministry show that, as of 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, rain-triggered floods had affected some 29 million people and 997,000 had been evacuated.

Further, the direct economic loss had reached 19.75 billion yuan (2.89 billion U.S. dollars). A total of 93,000 houses and 252,800 hectares of crops have been destroyed.

Also on Tuesday, the China Meteorological Administration forecast that rainstorms would continue to batter some flooded regions in the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui and are also expected in Chongqing Municipality over the next three days.

Southern Qinghai, eastern Inner Mongolia, eastern Liaoning, central Gansu and western Yunnan will also receive heavy rain during the next three days.

The Ministry of Health said Tuesday that the flood-hit regions had not reported any cases of epidemics or public health emergencies.