Five people have been killed and two others remain missing after severe rainstorms lashed southeast China's Fujian Province starting Wednesday, Xinhua reported. As of 5 p.m. Saturday, torrential rain had affected 180,000 people in Fujian, and forced 22,000 of them to evacuate, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said. Flooding damaged 12,690 hectares of crops and 25 km of embankment. It also led 64 businesses to close and 420 houses to collapse. The rainstorms incurred a direct economic loss of 242 million yuan (35.4 million U.S. dollars). The provincial meteorological bureau Friday issued a yellow alert, the third-highest, for torrential rains. Downpours had affected more than 30 counties in Fujian, with maximum rainfall of 100 mm as of 6 a.m. Saturday. Authorities have sent text messages to more than one million residents on precautions against heavy rainstorms.
