The death toll has risen to at least 42, with 15 missing, after tropical storm Prapiroon swept across southern China and destroyed thousands of homes, state media said on Saturday. The worst-hit province was Guangdong, where the storm hit land at typhoon strength late Thursday. At least 38 people died and 14 were missing in Guangdong by Saturday, with high winds, floods and landslides affecting about 3.7 million people in the province, the official Xinhua news agency said. The storm destroyed 7,000 homes in Guangdong and caused direct economic losses estimated at 2.4 billion yuan (300 million dollars), the agency said.
