People walk and the vehicle moves on the flooded Weiming Road in Cangzhou City, north China's Hebei Province, July 5, 2008. Heavy rainfall hit Cangzhou on Saturday. (Xinhua/Fu Xinchun) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, July 7 -- Rainstorms sweeping through most of China since Tuesday have left at least 12 dead and seven missing. About three million people have been affected, and the downpours have caused floods and traffic chaos.

    Torrential rain has dramatically raised water levels along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The Three Gorges Dam Project has started discharging water to lower reservoir water levels. This is the first time this year that the reservoir has released water to prevent flooding.

    Water will continue to be discharged as more heavy rains are expected on the upper reaches of the river.

    25 cities and counties in central China's Hubei province have reported damages totaling 700 million yuan, including over one hundred thousand hectares of flooded farmland and more than one thousand toppled homes.

    A building under construction in the suburbs of Hubei's provincial capital, Wuhan, collapsed on Saturday... leaving at least seven construction workers dead and 13 others injured.

    The northeast province of Liaoning has also been hit by the heaviest rainfall this rainy season.

    In Qinhuangdao in north China's Hebei province, 30 millimeters of rain fell on Friday. Local officials have issued storm warnings for the coming days.

    In the northern coastal city of Tianjin, drizzle turned into a torrential downpour around midnight on Friday, and almost 90 millimeters of rain fell on some districts.

    But for thirsty Shandong province in East China, the rainstorms are not all bad. The province has received an average 50 millimeters of rainfall since Thursday, alleviating the previous drought.

    In Beijing, over 95 percent of flights at Capital International Airport were delayed or cancelled on Friday.

    The heaviest rainstorm in the city this summer also flooded the airport expressway and a major subway line.

    But as the skies cleared up, transport services soon returned to normal.

    The National Meteorological Center says more rain is expected for northern and parts of southwestern China in the next few days.

    (Source: cctv.com)