Torrential rains have killed at least 177 people across south China in the last 24 hours, flooding cities, sweeping away houses and cutting off utilities as well as rail and road links, state media reported today.

The rains were triggered by Tropical Storm Bilis, which killed dozens in the Philippines and Taiwan before hitting China on Friday, where it was supposed to weaken but instead wrought havoc across six provinces.

A further 138 people have so far been reported missing as downpours continued today in many of the worst-hit areas in Hunan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces, state-run Xinhua news agency and China Central Television (CCTV) said.

Xinhua cited the national disaster relief office as saying that a total of 20 million people had been affected by the rains, 2.2 million of whom had been evacuated.

The storm had destroyed 160,000 hectares of crops and 113,000 houses, causing 12 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) of damage, Xinhua said. Rains are forecast to continue over the next two days.

Nearly two million residents and soldiers have been mobilised in Hunan to battle back flood waters that are expected to peak tomorrow along the province’s primary river, the Xiang, Xinhua said. CCTV showed footage of flooded rice fields and of soldiers evacuating villagers stranded on the roofs of their homes.

A section of the Beijing-Zhuhai highway that links the country’s capital to China’s southern industrial hubs has been submerged by water as deep as three metres (9 ft 10 in) in Hunan, Xinhua said, adding that"its resumption is unlikely in the near future".

More than 8,800 train passengers were stranded for hours when the Beijing-Guangzhou railway was cut, CCTV said, adding that authorities have suspended service on more than 100 passenger trains along the rail link, one of the country’s most important.

Local meteorological authorities in Hunan and Guangdong provinces forecast more storms in their regions in coming days while the rain was shifting westwards, hitting Guangxi province.

Bilis wreaked havoc in the Philippines and Taiwan before veering towards China. It weakened after hitting the mainland last Friday.

South China is plagued by rainstorms every summer, but this year’s flood season has been particularly deadly, already claiming hundreds of lives before Bilis struck.

Meanwhile in South Korea at least 15 people have died with another 23 missing after torrential rains battered the area over the weekend causing landslides and flash floods.

Officials have warned of further downpours across the country in the coming days as the heavy rains flooded some 1,300 homes across the nation, forcing more than 2,000 people to flee, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

Since Friday, as much as 50cm (20ins) of rain has fallen in Gangwon province on the country’s east coast, the hardest-hit area, the Nema said. Gangwon and the capital, Seoul, and Seoul’s surrounding area were put on orange alert - the second-highest of four alert levels - while a yellow alert, one notch below orange, was issued for the rest of the country.

The Korea Meteorological Administration warned of more heavy rains nationwide until Thursday as a seasonal rain front moved southward. Some 500 people remain isolated in Gangwon, seeking refuge in temporary shelters, with major roads inaccessible because of flooding, the agency said.

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