Heavy rain continued to batter many parts of southern China on Saturday, causing flooding and a host of other problems in at least three provinces. It's led to some casualties and widespread evacuations.

In southwestern Guizhou Province, 8 people died in rain-triggered disasters, two by lightning strikes. Two students in Wuchuan County were among the dead, when they were swept away by flash floods. 24 counties have been hit by flooding, with 350,000 people affected.

In Sichuan Province, the downpours that began on Thursday have killed eight and left 29 missing.

In Guangdong Province, a middle school student is reported to have died on Saturday when fencing collapsed.

And Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, was closed for an hour because of thunderstorms, forcing at least eight incoming flights to be diverted to neighboring cities. Meanwhile heavy rain is swelling the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River, and there are warnings of floods and geological disasters. Downtown Wuhan was also inundated on Saturday, with knee deep rain water leaving many vehicles stranded.

Heavy rains have also battered the eastern provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, forcing a total of 370 thousand people to be evacuated from their homes.

The National Meteorological Center on Saturday kept its rainstorm alert at "orange," its second-highest level.

The National Meteorological Center urged local authorities to take emergency action, including suspending outdoor operations, cutting power supplies in potentially dangerous areas, and efforts to prevent torrential flooding and mudslides.