At least 28 people were killed and another four are still missing in continuous floods in the city of Shiyan, central China's Hubei Province, official statistics showed on Tuesday.

Rainstorms relentlessly slammed the city and many other adjacent townships since August 14, triggering floods that have cut off traffic, electricity and telecommunications services and destroyed thousands of hectares of crops, said Chen Tianhui, mayor of Shiyan.

The disaster-stricken areas have received more than 25 million yuan (US$3 million) in disaster relief fund and are now fully prepared for potential landslides as the rain persists.

Floods have killed at least 1,024 people and left 293 missing across China this year, according to statistics jointly released by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Tuesday.

The widespread floods have affected 150.78 million people, destroyed over 10 million hectares of farmland and about 900,000 houses in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country, incurring 102.8 billion yuan (some US$12.6 billion) in direct losses.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2005)