Heavy rains have left more than a hundred people dead across southern China over the last week. Officials say the number has risen to at least 175 people and left 107 missing.

Torrential downpours have triggered flash floods, inundated crops, and disrupted traffic and telecommunications, forcing the evacuation of more than a million people.

Many fled their houses in a hurry as rivers broke their banks and landslides cut off road and rail links, taking their livestock with them.

[Flood Victim]:
"My house is over there. I had to transfer my cow here otherwise it will drown. My house has been under water since last night and I had to leave with my cow. One cow is worth 7,000 or 8,000 yuan."

Official figures put the economic damage at nearly three billion U.S. Dollars, calling the floods the most severe in 50 years, in some regions.

The worst hit provinces were in Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi regions.

Only a few months ago, parts of the southwest were suffering from the worst drought in a century.