Vehicles and people are blocked by flood on the expressway linking Leiyang with Yizhang in central China's Hunan Province on July 17, 2006. The one-kilometer section of the expressway was flooded with the deepest hydrops of 3 meters since the evening of July 15. About 100 vehicles and more than 1,000 people are blocked. The rescue work is now going on. (Xinhua Photo)

One hundred and eighty-eight people have now been confirmed dead from the rainstorms and flooding across China triggered by the severe tropical storm Bilis.

The death toll in the southern province of Guangdong rose to 44 while the economic losses in the coastal province stood at about 6 billion yuan (750 million U.S. dollars), the provincial flood control headquarters said on Monday afternoon.

Hunan Province is the worst-hit province as 92 people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 are missing. Floods and rainstorms set off by Bilis that landed in China on Friday also claimed 43 lives in Fujian Province and nine in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

In Guangdong, 1.32 million people have been affected and 4,744 houses were destroyed by the deadly storm.

Water levels at eight large reservoirs have exceeded the flood-control limit with six others approaching the limit.

A woman clears up the ruins of the house damaged in the storm Bilis, in Zhangpu County of southeast China's Fujian Province, on July 17, 2006. The tropical storm Bilis has caused the death of 156 people and left 141 others missing in China by Sunday night. The storm triggered heavy rainfall and serious floods in the provinces and regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi since July 14, which also caused the emergency relocation of 1.7 million residents by 9:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. (Xinhua Photo)

A man saves a cat from the ruins of the house damaged in the storm Bilis, in Pinghe County of southeast China's Fujian Province, on July 17, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)

Train services partly resumed on the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line on Monday, nearly two days after floods cut the trunk route.

More than 8,800 passengers have been evacuated after they were stranded along the flooded Beijing-Guangzhou railway line for about 40 hours. The water level had risen to over one meter above the track.

Food and water have been provided to the passengers and more than 10,000 workers have been mobilized to repair the track.

However, it will take another two or three days for service to resume southward to Guangdong.

The flooding has also affected some 100 trains in Hubei Province, with four trains suspended.

Local meteorological departments said heavy rains or rainstorms would continue in Guangdong for the next couple of days.

In Fujian, 3 million people had been affected by flooding, 19,100 houses were destroyed and 519,000 people had been evacuated by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Rainstorms and floods spilt 144,680 hectares of crops and forced 1,865 industrial and mining enterprises to suspend production, resulting in losses of 3 billion yuan (375 million U.S. dollars).

The Fujian provincial government has appropriated 4.3 million yuan (537,500 U.S. dollars) for disaster relief and delivered 2,000 quilts, 6,000 boxes of instant noodles and 12,000 tents to victims.

Guangxi disaster relief officials said on Monday 1.14 million people were affected by Bilis which has also caused 300 million yuan (37.5 million U.S. dollars) worth of economic losses.

A total of 224 reservoirs in Guangxi were forced to discharge floodwater. More than 30,000 people stranded by floods had been evacuated by Monday.

The storm triggered heavy rainfall and serious floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi from July 14. More than 1.7 million residents have been evacuated by 9:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Reports of casualties from Zhejiang and Jiangxi are not available now.

A joint work group representing the ministries of civil affairs, finance and several other government departments have rushed to the disaster-hit zones to aid and direct relief operations.

Editor: Donald