12 Killed, 2 missing in Hunan rainstorm

The death roll has risen to 12 and another two remain missing after rainstorms hit central China's Hunan Province, local authorities said. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, downpours in Hunan had killed 12 people, while two remained missing, Xinhua quoted a statement from the province's flood prevention and drought control headquarters as saying. More than 1.37 million people in eight cities and prefectures in the province have been affected, and 3,431 houses have collapsed. Landslides triggered by rainstorms have occurred on sections of the No. 209 national highway in Xiangxi Tu and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Several of the worst-hit cities have initiated grade I emergency responses to relieve the affected areas.