Severe floods ravaging south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from June 18 to 27 have claimed 54 lives and caused direct economic loss exceeding 7 billion yuan (about US$843 million), a regional source said.

Continuous rainstorms struck Guangxi in the past ten days, affecting a total population of 7.71 million. Major rivers in the autonomous region such as Guijiang, Liujiang, Qianjiang, Xijiang have all been flooded.

The floods damaged a total 45,000 houses and nearly 410,000 hectares of farmland. The regional authorities have organized immediate relief work and tried hard to help the flood-afflicted cities restore normal production and life.

The regional government source said that the June-August period is a major flooding season in which Guangxi is heavily obliged to fight against floods.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2005)