At least 50 people were killed and 1.27 lakh evacuated in two days as torrential rain triggered floods and landslides toppled homes and destroyed river embankments in four drought-hit provinces of China.

Twenty-five people were killed and 12 were missing as of Friday evening in central China’s Hubei Province, a spokesman with the provincial civil affairs department said.

So far, more than 127,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes and the floods have caused direct economic losses of $133 million in the province, Xinhua reported.

Most of the deaths were reported in the city of Xianning which was hit by heavy rainfall till Friday. More than 100 people were injured in the floods in Xianning, according to the report.

In the city’s Tongcheng County, which was virtually submerged in water, precipitation topped 300 mm within four hours, a record volume in 200 years.

Flood waters measured more than 2 meters deep in Tongcheng’s low-lying areas. Traffic in the county seat was paralysed as flood waters in the area measured between 60 to 90 cm deep, it said.

Electricity and telephone services in Tongcheng have been cut off by the floods. More than 300 people living downstream from one of the county’s reservoirs had to evacuate after the reservoir was overwhelmed by the floods.

In neighbouring Hunan Province, 19 people died and another 28 are still missing after rain-triggered landslides occurred during the early hours of Friday in the cities of Linxiang and Yueyang.

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