A man crrying relief goods balances above the high water yesterday in Xinshao County, Hunan Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

The death toll from flooding in Hunan Province rose to 87 last night, as three more fatalities were reported after another heavy rainstorm hit south-central China.
At least 37 people were missing in Anhua County, the site of the latest deaths, Xie Kangsheng, deputy secretary of the Hunan Province Committee of the Communist Party of China, said during a disaster relief meeting yesterday.
The new storms drenched the province from Sunday evening to yesterday morning.
Early yesterday, the Anhua County towns of Dafu and Xianxi reported breakdowns in traffic and telecommunications services, and some areas suffered blackouts.
The flooding affected an estimated 440,000 people in the region, and more than 100,000 were evacuated.
In xinshao County, the area worst-hit by the flooding, 52 people were confirmed dead and 25 were reported missing, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
Xie urged local governments to pay special attention to flood control in regions around water reservoirs to ensure the safety of people and their property.
In addition, the governments must prepare for possible new flooding as the summer rainy season progresses, Xie said.
In guizhou Province, continuous downpours over the weekend killed four farmers and left three primary school students missing, the provincial flood control and drought relief office reported yesterday.
A large swath of southern China was hit by torrential rain and flooding through the weekend, killing more than 200 people, destroying more than 614,000 hectares of farmland and damaging some 138,000 homes.