The ministry said 1.42 million people have been temporarily moved out of their homes.

Briefing the media and a group of domestic charities on the disaster situation Wednesday in Beijing, Yan Zhizhuang, head of the Disaster and Social Relief Division of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that "most of the deaths were caused by torrents of water, mud and rocks tumbling down from hills in remote areas."

Many of the dead were unprepared farmers who tilled dry riverbanks in areas that have been plagued with persistent drought, Yan added.

By Tuesday, flooding caused by the rain that has been incessantly falling since early this month has caused 26 billion yuan (US$3.132 billion) in economic losses, according to a report released Wednesday by the ministry.

The floods have also destroyed 590,000 houses, damaged 1.67 million others and flooded over 7.3 million hectares of cropland.

Grain-yields will be reduced by at least 30 percent in 52 percent of the total inundated fields, with no harvest at all in 12 percent of the affected areas, Yan said.

Wednesday in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities such as Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan and Guizhou, the situation is getting worse and emergency rescue operations are still being carried out.

"Generally speaking, this summer's flood-induced disasters have not been as severe as the devastating deluges along the Huaihe River in 1991 and the Yangtze River in 1998," Yan said.

The summer floods in 1998 claimed more than 4,000 lives and left over 260 billion yuan (US$31.3 billion) in damage.

The season's regional deluges have wreaked havoc in the 18 affected provinces and municipalities, with Shaanxi, Fujian, Sichuan and Chongqing the worst battered.

Following the disasters, Chinese central and local governments launched intensified rescue and relief operations to mitigate the scale of the disaster by mobilizing tens of thousands of soldiers to help the millions of victims.

"The lives of many victims have been essentially normalized, with school returning to normal and social order remaining stable, thanks to the government's timely disaster relief efforts," Yan said.

So far, 3.28 billion yuan (US$395.1 million) has been given out by central government ministries in emergency relief assistance.

Yan promised that "more funds to rebuild transportation and public health facilities and schools in disaster-ravaged areas will be allocated by the ministries in the days ahead."

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has budgeted 1.27 billion yuan (US$153 million) in relief funds and sent more than 7,000 tents to the worst hit areas.

In addition to rescuing thousands of people stranded by the floods, local authorities have also handed out 130 million yuan (US$15.6 million) to ensure supplies of clothing, food and medicine badly needed by the homeless victims.

Meanwhile, people from all walks of life and China's major charities, such as the Red Cross Society of China, have joined hands to aid the victims by raising funds and collecting donations.

More than 35 million yuan (US$4.2 million) in relief funds have been raised in the hardest-hit provinces of Shaanxi and Fujian.

In Fujian alone, 14 million yuan (US$1.6 million) in relief funds have been raised and 100,000 pieces of clothing, 75,000 kilograms of grain or seeds and 30,000 tons of chemical fertilizer donated.

(China Daily June 27, 2002)