2016年CRI 42 dead, 74 missing in central, north China storms（在线收听）

Northeast China's Liaoning experienced its strongest rainfall of the year on Thursday.

Average precipitation in the province reached 69 mm as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

A weather station in Huludao City in western Liaoning recorded 395 mm of rain, the highest ever since records began there.

"The maximum precipitation of 395 mm was reported in Mingshui town in Suizhong County. It's the highest ever recorded since the city was established in 1951."

Rain died away in Huludao by the evening after waterlogging many urban areas and submerging vehicles.

According to the local flood control office, the rain has forced the evacuation of 126,000 people across the province as of Thursday night. Thirty reservoirs are operating over capacity.

The provincial weather bureau has issued three red alerts for rain.

Cities including Benxi, Dandong, Anshan and Fushun in the eastern part of the province are expected to see heavy storms.

Meanwhile, rainstorms since Wednesday have caused severe disruptions across north and central China, causing casualties, traffic chaos and the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.

Torrential rain in Hebei Province has left 30 people dead and 68 missing, forcing over 160,000 people to leave their homes.

The provincial civil affairs department has received reports of floods and landslides damaging close to 48,000 houses and more than 350,000 hectares of crops, causing traffic chaos, power outages and wreaking havoc with communications.

As of Thursday noon, direct economic losses from the rain-triggered disaster amounted to over 4.7 billion yuan.

Relief supplies including tents, quilts and clothing have been distributed in the worst-hit cities including Handan, Xingtai and the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang.

In neighboring Henan Province, 12 people were confirmed dead with six unaccounted for, with forced evacuation of 105,000 people.

More than 2,000 homes were flattened and 20,000 hectares of crops were damaged.

The extreme weather also caused two dikes to collapse in the city of Anyang. The repair work is still underway.

The National Commission for Disaster Relief and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have sent staff to assist the relief work there.

However, Cheng Xiaotao with China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, suggests it may be only a start.

"The rain season in northern China often begins in late July and ends after early August. This round of heavy rainfall is just like prelude of this year's wet season in China's northern, northeastern and northwestern parts."

The expert urges local authorities to keep on high alert and prepare for massive rainfalls and floods as it's hard to forecast where or when it will take place.

For CRI, this is Liu Mohan