155 die and 1.3 million flee China floods

Unusually heavy seasonal flooding in China has killed at least 155 people and forced more than 1 million to flee as water levels in some areas reached their highest for more than a decade, the government said today.

Direct economic losses total $6.5bn (€5.36bn), with large swathes of the country's south-east hit especially hard, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.