The death toll from rainstorms in east China's Shandong Province had risen to 32 by Thursday, the provincial civil affairs bureau announced.

Ten people were missing after the torrential rains and 197 were injured, while the storms destroyed 805 homes and damaging 1,500 others in the province, resulting in losses of 1.5 billion yuan (US$197.4 million).

Nearly 420,000 people were affected, of whom 112,300 were evacuated, according to the civil affairs bureau.

The rainfall in Jinan, Shandong's capital and the worst-hit city, was 134 mm from 5:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Water in some streets rose to 2.5 meters in depth.

Twenty-six people died in the city in collapsed buildings and submerged vehicles, or by electrocution.

Six people are still missing in Jinan.

The rainstorm, the worst this year to hit Shandong, also disrupted traffic, electricity and water supplies for three hours, affecting 330,000 people in the downtown area.

The Shandong provincial government has allocated 10 million yuan (US$1.3 million) in disaster relief funds to Jinan and delivered 3,000 quilts.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2007)