BEIJING (Reuters) - Torrential rain lashed parts of central and south China on Monday, with floods damaging crops, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes and killing at least 33, while the north wilted in a heat wave and drought-like conditions.

Rescuers evacuate people during a flood in Xinshao county, Hunan province. REUTERS/Stringer

Water levels in more than 60 rivers in southern China have risen above warning levels, the flood control authority said.

Thirty-three people are confirmed dead and 15 missing as of Monday morning after heavy rain and flooding engulfed provinces central and southern provinces including Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Sichuan and Guizhou, China’s civil affairs ministry said.

The annual rainy season, which arrived in the second half of June, has hit southern Hunan province the most. Weather forecasters predict the relentless downpours could start to ease in coming days.

Xiangjiang, a major tributary of the Yangtze river, has exceeded its record flood level in the Hunan capital of Changsha. Floods in the city have swamped houses, uprooted trees, damaged cars and submerged roads.

Across Hunan, the flooding has forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, damaged crops and destroyed houses, causing a total direct economic loss of 8.26 billion yuan ($1.22 billion), the provincial civil affairs office said.

In Guangxi, 16 people have been confirmed dead and 10 are missing after a flood hit the southwestern region after a storm, the official Xinhua news agency cited authorities as saying.

Southern provinces produce some of China’s major crops.

Guangxi is China’s top sugarcane-growing region, while Hunan is its third-largest hog-farming province. Rice is grown south of the Yangtze.

China will take steps to ensure sugar reserves are safe during the rainy season, the Sugar Reserve Management Centre said.

China Southern Power Grid reported an extensive blackout in Guangxi. Electricity to half of the affected area was restored by Monday morning.

The state post bureau warned of courier delays in parts of the central, southern and southwestern provinces.

By contrast, stifling heat has settled over Beijing, Hebei, Henan and other northern provinces since last week, with temperatures forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius in some areas on Monday, the meteorological bureau said.

Cities in Shaanxi province issued alerts, saying temperatures could exceed 35C in coming three days.

Many residents in the province have ordered food to be delivered rather than cook at home in the heat, a Shaanxi newspaper reported.

In Beijing, many residents stayed indoors over the weekend due to the heat.

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In the Inner Mongolia region, more than 200 firefighters are battling a grassland fire that has crossed over to northern China from Mongolia, Xinhua reported.

The blaze has spread quickly in the heat, dry conditions and strong winds.

The heat wave is expected to ease by mid-week.</s>Floods in southern China have killed at least 15 people over the past few days and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands more, state media said.

In Guangxi region, seven died and three were missing following torrential rains, with more than 23,000 people being evacuated to safer areas, the Xinhua news agency said late on Sunday.

In neighboring Hunan province, more than 300,000 people have been evacuated and eight people have died, the agency said.

More rain is forecast in coming days, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Floods kill dozens of people every year in China during the summer rainy season.</s>Tens of thousands evacuated and at least 15 dead as China rocked by floods

In Guangxi, seven died and three were missing following torrential rains, with more than 23,000 people being evacuated to safer areas, the Xinhua news agency said late on Sunday.

More rain is forecast in coming days, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Floods kill dozens of people every year in China during the summer rainy season.</s>Days of torrential rain have led to massive floods in southern and eastern China. At least 56 people have been killed and another 22 reported missing after swollen rivers broke their banks and inundated towns. The floodwaters reached up to the roofs of houses in some areas.

Over the past five days, as much as 48.6 centimetres (19 inches) of rain has been dumped on towns across a vast region of the country. The volume of rain has pushed water levels in more than 60 rivers in southern China above warning levels. The level of the Xiangjiang river, a tributary of the Yangtze River that flows through Changsha, capital of Hunan province, exceeded the previous records set in a massive flood in 1998.

The water levels in Changsha rose so quickly that police were forced to use a most unlikely rescue vessel: a bright green inflatable turtle. "There weren't any boats available, so we had to improvise," the police said in a statement on their Weibo page. The South China Morning Post reported that 13 people were transferred to safety on the turtle's back over two hours.

More than 11 million people in 11 southern provinces have been affected by floods, landslides and hailstorms, said China's Ministry of Civil Affairs. Collapsed levees in Hunan forced large-scale evacuations.

The Chinese government has disbursed 700 million yuan (£79m) in emergency aid to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces to help those who have lost their homes or family members in the floods. The government has already sent 3,300 tents, 30,000 quilts and 24,000 camp beds to help displaced people in the four provinces, the Ministry of Civil Affairs added.

Dozens of flights at several airports serving major cities in the region including Chengdu, Changsha, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen were cancelled or delayed, stranding thousands of travellers. Trains also were halted, and roads were cut off to many towns and villages in the region. More rain is for the rest of this week in many of the areas that have already been badly hit.
Floods in South China kill at least 15 people over the last few days with tens of thousands more being relocated. More rain is forecast in future days.