A mother sits in a temporary shelter with her children in Hunan Province, where floods have killed at least 75 people and devastated villages and crops. Relief aid and doctors have been dispatched to help the flood victims in the province. (Photo: Xinhua)

The death toll from the torrential rain and flooding that's sweeping parts of China has risen to at least 204, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported over the weekend.
The heavy weather has affected the lives of 17 million people in 16 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, destroyed 614,000 hectares of farmland and damaged 137,900 houses.
And more dark clouds are on the way.
Large parts of south China were getting drenched yesterday, and downpours were forecast to continue today.
Thunderstorms and hail were expected in Guangdong Province, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southern coastal areas.
And landslides and mud-flows were possible in Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Guangdong provinces.
The worst-hit region so far has been the southern province of Hunan, where the death toll rose to 75 people and 46 were reported missing yesterday.
The bad weather affected 4.19 million people and caused 2.3 billion yuan in economic losses to the province, according to preliminary figures.
Heavy rain and flooding began in central and western parts of Hunan starting on May 31 and raged on into the next day.
Across the province, 67,000 houses were flattened and 193,000 were damaged. More than 200,000 people were evacuated to higher ground.
Some 420 primary and middle schools and 67 medical care and health units were seriously damaged.
The disaster also affected 243,900 hectares of crops, killed 35,000 animals and caused the loss of 17,000 tons of aquatic products in the province.
More than 300 industrial and mining firms were forced to stop production.
The disaster also seriously damaged some highways and water conservation facilities and disrupted telecommunications services, making the rescue effort more difficult.
In southern China's Guangdong Province, rainstorms since the beginning of the month have affected 120,000 people, damaged more than 10,000 hectares of crops and caused an estimated 55 million yuan in economic losses, the provincial flood control headquarters said yesterday.
No injuries were reported.
Rainstorms also flattened 59 houses and damaged some traffic facilities.
Fourteen cities and counties in the province reported average rainfall of 50 millimeters, with the heaviest rainfall amounting to 256.2 mm in Huilai County.
Guangzhou, the provincial capital, reported 138.6 mm of rainfall between 8am Saturday and 8:00am yesterday, according to the city meteorological station.
In southwestern China's Chongqing, more than 40,000 people were affected and about 3,000 hectares of crops were damaged by heavy rain that hit Qijiang County from Friday evening to Saturday evening, the local government said yesterday, adding that no casualties had been reported.
By saturday night, 12 hours of continuous rain and ensuing floods had flattened 500 houses and damaged another 2,000 in the county. More than 300 landslides were reported, causing a halt to railway and highway traffic.
Qijiang communications authorities dispatched 51 buses to transport more than 2,000 passengers stranded at the Qijiang Railway Station to Chongqing when highway traffic resumed on Saturday night.
The water level of the Qijiang River reached 223.5 meters on Saturday afternoon, 3.5 meters above the warning line.
Governments at all levels in China have been ordered to prepare for possible flooding during the summer rainy season and to ensure the safety of major rivers and reservoirs.