Torrential rain triggered flooding in central China's Hunan Province, leaving 22 people dead and at least 35 missing on Wednesday, said the Hunan Provincial Headquarters for Flood Control and Drought Relief.

Storms and torrential rains hit Shaoyang, Loudi, Yiyang and Huaihua cities in this central China's province since Tuesday.

The precipitation in Hunan's 52,000 sq. km areas exceeded 50 mm in the past 24 hours. Tanjiawan in Xupu County reported the biggest rainfall at 201 mm.

Flood discharges in reservoirs in Hunan have been increased. The Hunan Hydrometeorological Bureau said that the water level in Taojiang Station will reach 41.7 meters, 1.7 meters above the warning level.

The mountain torrents in Xinshao are the worst in the county in history. At least 47 villages were devastated by the torrents, and 54,600 villagers have been affected, 3,560 residential houses destroyed, said Shen Guirong, director of the publicity department of Xinshao County.

The death toll of the mountain torrents had risen to 17 as of four p.m. Wednesday. Thirty-five others were missing, including five students, Shen said.

The floods also cut off electricity, traffic and telecommunications services in some villages, he said.

Taizhimiao village, among the four villages in Xinshao County, was the worst hit. More than 400 villages are still stranded there and bridges and roads have all been destroyed by floods.

Local government is trying to erect temporary bridges to excavate the stranded villagers, Shen said.

Tang Fei and Li Yinghui, two township officials, died during the rescue work.

Officials of the provincial government have ordered immediate rescue efforts to be made in the affected areas and called on all localities to get ready to fight against possible floods in the future and protect the safety of local reservoirs.

Officials will be held accountable for any casualties if any misconduct occurs in the rescue work, according to the provincial government sources.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2005)