Heavy rains hit Suining county in Hunan province early today, with precipitation in one township hitting 186 mm by noon, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The rainstorms disrupted traffic, power and telecommunications in 10 townships.
One villager in Jinwutang township was killed in a rain-triggered landslide.
A total of 1.12 lakh residents were affected and 10,000 have been evacuated, it said.
Also a flash flood tore down 14 houses and two bridges, damaged flood-control dikes and inundated a hydropower generation plant in Fugong County in southwest China's Yunnan Province.