Recent floods and flood-induced calamities have killed 124 people and forced the evacuation of 1.52 million people in south and east China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday. At least 65 people are missing.

So far this year, the disasters have killed 567 people, left 165 missing and led to the relocation of 2.46 million people across the Chinese mainland, resulting in direct economic losses of 22.9 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion), according to the ministry.

The loss from floods in this period is heavier than the average level in the same periods since the 1990s, but still below the level in 1991 and 1998, according to sources with the ministry.

Since mid-June, serious floods, landslides and mudslides have affected at least 18.85 million people in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to the ministry. The direct economic losses amount to 13.3 billion yuan.

Guangxi, Fujian and Guangdong were the worst hit, with 6.91 million people in Guangxi, 2.18 million people in Fujian and 2.56 million people in Guangdong bearing the brunt of nature's havoc.

The heavy rains and landslides have suspended transportation on three railways in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, a source with the Fuzhou Railway Station staff yesterday.

All the 16 trains on the three rail routes, connecting Fuzhou with 16 major cities elsewhere in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, have been suspended.

Transportation is expected to resume on Tuesday, according to Zhou Changbao, deputy head of the station.

Meanwhile, the flooding in Xinxiang, central China's Henan Province, was under control yesterday after two temporary dams collapsed during a silt-washing operation at the Yellow River on Thursday.

The rescuers were trying to reinforce the two dams built about a week ago in anticipation of increasing silt-washing water in the Yellow River, according to the Xinxiang municipal government in Henan.

The new round of silt-washing operations in Xiaolangdi Reservoir, the largest water conservation project on the Yellow River, began last Thursday, aiming to flush silt from its lower reaches into the Bohai Sea.

The water in the Yellow River grew up rapidly and rushed directly to Zhangzhuang Village in Lizhuang Township in Fengqiu County. Local people built five temporary dams to protect the village.

Two of the dams broke down and about 200 meters of the river banks collapsed on Thursday.

The Yellow River has been plagued by increasing mud and sand and less water.

Each year, the river bed grows higher due to silt deposits, slowing water flow in the lower reaches.

The Xiaolangdi Project, which is second only to the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze in terms of workload, has pushed over 200 million tons of silt into the sea thanks to the past three rounds of silt-washing since 2002.