Scores dead, thousands flee as flooding spreads across southern China

June 15, 2008 Over 50 people have been confirmed dead and at least one million people have fled from their homes as a result of heavy flooding across much of southern China.

In the Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces alone, at least 6,000 homes have been submerged and destroyed by the flood.

Further rainfall is expected to occur throughout the next ten days.

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has issued a warning on the situation. "Faced with the increasingly severe rain and flood situation, at 16 o’clock of June 12, Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters of Guangxi urgently started level 2 flood control emergency response and required the relevant departments and places to prepare immediately so as to ensure the work of flood control and drought relief," the CMA said in a statement released on Friday.