The death toll caused by floods in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region rose to 38 Thursday, according to local flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Other 27 people were missing after rainstorm and ensuing floods swept central and northern parts of the autonomous region since Saturday.

The headquarters said floods affected 6.76 million people in the region, and caused a direct economic loss of 4.6 billion yuan (US$550 million).

More than 330,900 hectares of crops were damaged, and more than 60,000 houses were toppled by the floods, the headquarters said.

Continuous rainfall caused the rise of water level in the region's major rivers including the Xijiang River, the Liujiang River, the Xunjiang River and the Guijiang River.

In Wuzhou, the water level of the Xijiang River rose to 26.75 meters when flood crest came at 12:00 AM. Thursday, 9.45 meters above the warning line.

About 100,000 local people and soldiers from local garrison were mobilized to fight against floods.

According to local hydrologic stations, the water level of the Xijiang River is slowly declining, and is expected to drop under 26.5 meters at 5:00 AM Friday. 

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2005)