Three people are dead and one is missing as a rainstorm forced 158,000 people to leave their homes in central China's Hunan Province, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Friday.

The ministry has sent an emergency rescue group to the disaster-hit area.

The storm struck southern Hunan on Wednesday night. By 8:00 AM Friday, more than 1.33 million people had been affected, including 75,000 who had difficulty in drinking water and 4,784 got injured or ill, said the ministry.

The disaster also affected more than 57,000 hectares of farmland, and 3,804 rooms collapsed and 9,400 rooms were damaged. Direct economic losses were expected to be 580 million yuan (US$75.32 million).

There are more rainfalls in the province and the disaster is spreading, according to the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2007)