Heavy rains have continued to batter southern China, causing riverbanks to burst, inundating homes and flooding farmlands. More than a dozen people have been killed in the floods since they started on June 2.

The central Chinese metropolis of Chongqing was hit hard, triggering a level three emergency flood response. Millions have been affected by the heavy rains in Guangxi, Hunan, Chongqing, and other southern provinces, and hundreds of thousands have been evacuated since the flooding started.

Over a thousand houses have collapsed, state media reported, and property damage due to the rains have been estimated at over USD 565.5 mln.

Rescue crews have been deployed across the country to save people from flooded homes and take them to temporary shelters.

Seasonal flooding generally causes heavy damage each year in the lower regions of China"s major river systems, particularly those of the Yangtze and the Pearl to the south.