12 dead as heavy rains batter south China

At least 12 people have been killed in the torrential rains battering south China, flood control authorities said Thursday.

In Guizhou province, nine people are reported dead and another is missing after torrential rains Tuesday and Wednesday brought floods and landslides, Xinhua reported.

Flooding hit 44 counties in Guizhou affecting 1.22 million people, about 88,000 of whom have been evacuated. More than 18,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, according to the Guizhou civil affairs department.

Power, water and communications were cut off in Shiqian county, where the flood has left seven dead and one missing, officials said.

"I was wakened by the storm and saw the water had already reached the first floor," said Yang Shizhen, whose family of four in Shiqian were trapped in a residential building as the flood cut off their exit.

Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region also reported two deaths -- one person struck by lightning and another one killed in a house collapse. The rain has affected 148,900 people there and forced the evacuation of 2,788 people.

Direct economic losses including property and crop damage are calculated at 109 million yuan (or $17.4 million), the region's civil affairs officials said.

In Sichuan province, a 70-year-old villager in Tongjiang county's Bazhong city died after being swept away by a mountain torrent Monday evening.