Hundreds feared dead as China floods raze villages

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Hundreds feared dead as China floods raze villages

BEIJING (Reuters) - Floods caused by torrential rain have turned vast tracts of farmland in south China into muddy lakes, razed mountain villages and destroyed more than 36,000 homes, possibly killing hundreds of people.

"It looks like people's houses were just swept away by a broom," Zhou Deqing, manager of a mine in the town of Taizhimiao in Hunan province, told Reuters by telephone on Friday.

Three days of rain in the provinces of Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou caused floods and mudslides which had already killed at least 68 and left 62 missing, Xinhua news agency said.

A resident of Hunan province had said on Wednesday that the toll of dead and missing exceeded 200 -- and there has been much more rain since.

"Houses along the river banks have been totally destroyed. Even the foundations of some homes have been washed away and trees near the river have been uprooted," said Zhou.

In worst-hit Xinshao county, mountain torrents had killed 32 people and left 45 missing, state television said on Friday, showing pictures of flattened wooden buildings and distraught villagers sorting through the debris.

The flooding is also believed to have wiped out mountain villages yet to be reached by rescuers, China Central Television said.

"We are still searching for people missing, and many troops from the armed police are involved," an official from Taizhimiao told Reuters by telephone. "We will do as much as we can as long as there is hope."

China suffers widespread flooding and drought each year, causing huge loss of life. Earthquakes are common and typhoons roar ashore from the South China Sea in the summer.

The recent flooding had affected nearly 5 million people in Hunan province and left many villages without electricity, road access or telecom services, Xinhua said in a report posted on its Web site, http://www.chinaview.cn. It did not elaborate.

Zhou said more than 200 villagers left homeless were taking temporary shelter in buildings in his factory complex.

"It is all debris now, there is nothing more tragic than this scene," Zhou said.

The central government was sending officials to supervise relief efforts in the flooded areas and preparing emergency funds and materials, Xinhua said.

State television reported authorities were shipping rice, medicines, clothes and candles to affected villages.