Heavy downpour causes casualties in Central China

WUHAN - At least a dozen people are missing and 400,000 people were evacuated away from their homes on Sunday, after a heavy downpour in Huanggang city, Central China's Hubei province.

A maximum of 251 millimeters of rain has hit the city from Saturday afternoon. Floods have collapsed houses, bridges, dikes and roads, and inundated farmland.

In addition to evacuating people, local authorities are repairing roads, power grid and telecommunications facilities.

Heavy rainstorms have brought chaos to much of east and south China this week, causing many casualties.

China's meteorological authority on Sunday continued a yellow alert for heavy rain across most parts of the country in the coming two days.

Thunderstorms will hit the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei and Yunnan from Sunday morning to Monday morning, with precipitation reaching 200 millimeters in some areas.