Thousands of people have been stranded and dozens were killed after heavy floods and mudslides hit south China, according to the media report on Thursday.
The bad weather has wreaked havoc on popular tourist areas that had already been battered by months of travel restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak.
Torrential downpours unleashed floods and mudslides that caused nearly 230,000 people to be relocated and destroyed more than 1,300 houses, official state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the Ministry of Emergency Management.
In southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, six people were reported dead and one missing, Xinhua said.
According to the local government, more than 1,000 hotels had been flooded and more than 30 tourist sites damaged.
The extreme weather has dealt a hefty blow to the region’s tourism sector, which is still reeling from the COVID-19 epidemic.
The emergency management ministry said there were direct economic losses of over 4 billion yuan (more than $550 million) from the flooding, according to the reports.
In Hunan Province, at least 13 people were killed in rain-triggered disasters, and another eight people are missing or killed in southwestern Guizhou province, according to the local emergency response departments, Xinhua said in a report.
In 2018, at least 86 people have been killed and around 23 million were affected due to floods, landslides and other natural disasters in China.
Last year, at least 20 people were killed and many reported missing after a massive landslide hit southwest China.
Large parts of China, especially the southern regions, get affected every summer by torrential rains and typhoons, causing several deaths.