China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) reiterated its rainstorm alert for the country's southern regions for a fifth consecutive day Thursday, as heavy rains are expected to continue to batter the region.

Many regions in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region should expect rainstorms between 8 a.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday (Beijing time), the NMC said.

Strong downpours and torrential rains are forecast to hit some areas of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.

The meteorological authorities urged local authorities in the regions to prepare for possible floods and geological disaster as the continuous rainfall has pushed the water levels in many southern China reservoirs and rivers to high levels.

As of Wednesday, the rainstorms that began pelting southern China Sunday had left at least 42 dead and 36 missing.

Direct economic loss are estimated at 2.04 billion yuan (298.68 million U.S. dollars).

At least 1.43 million people have been affected by the heavy rain in inundated provinces of Guangxi, Sichuan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian.