China's floods kill 70

Heavy rainstorm and flooding in central and southwestern China have left 70 dead and 58 missing, destroying 217,100 hectares of farmland and 60,000 homes and killing 30,000 head of livestock, state media reported. So far, the floods have forced more than 200,000 people to evacuate, with the worst affected area being central China's Hunan province where 49 have died and 42 are missing. China's Ministry of Civil Affairs has pegged the cost of the disaster at US$338m.