Emergency response launched to S China rainstorms

BEIJING - Chinese authorities on Sunday launched an emergency response to rainstorms and floods in the southern Guangdong province.

The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have dispatched a working group to Guangdong to help disaster relief work with more than 4 million people in the province affected by typhoon Utor, the 11th and the strongest this year.

Twenty people were killed and another seven are missing in rainstorms, floods, landslides and mud flows, according to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Civil Affairs.

About 513,000 residents were relocated and 19,000 houses have collapsed or suffered severe damage. The direct economic loss is estimated at 490 million yuan ($80 million).

The local government has sent 1,500 tents, 4,700  folding beds and 3,000 cotton sheets to disaster zones.