Tropical storms and ensuing floods and landslides in this past July have ravaged a city in south China's Guangdong Province, said local authorities.

Lechang City has been confirmed the worst-hit place in Guangdong. In the city, 46 people were killed, 65 are still missing, and 340,000 people, or 70 percent of the city's population, were affected by the disasters. Nearly 30,000 houses collapsed as a result of torrential rain or water soaking.

Lechang suffers from a direct economic loss of 3.0 billion yuan (US$375 million), equaling the city's GDP in 2005.

Lechang was swept by Bilis on July 14 and Kaemi on July 25.

Maximum rainfall in Lechang has reached 370.5 millimeters, a record high in the recent 200 years.

Over half of the city, 12 kilometers in total, was inundated. In some areas the water was as deep as five meters.

Flood cut off electricity, traffic, water supply and food supply, besieging over 100,000 people, according to Chen Bo, mayor of the city.

Office building of city government was also flooded, in which water submerged the second floor. Government officials had to move to a prison on a hill for supervision.

Flood had left 6 million cubic meters of sullage.

Local people are now cleaning up the city.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2006)