At least four people died, two were missing and over 20,000 displaced due to landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain in Yichang city in central China's Hubei Province. Incessant rains have hit Yichang, southern Hubei, since June 17.

By Saturday, the area had reported 167 millimetres of rain, a local official said. Around 450,000 people in 71 townships have been affected and nearly 8,000 houses have been damaged or even destroyed, Xinhua news agency reported, adding that rural roads, bridges and dams have been hit. Over 1,16,127 acres of farmland has also been affected.

Traffic, power and telecommunications were completely cut off in three townships of Wufeng Autonomous County of Tujia Nationality after the area was hit by the strongest rainstorm in half a century on Friday.

The continuous rain has caused economic losses of 280 million yuan (USD 36.8 million) in Yichang, also the site of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower facility.

Government officials have rushed to the worst-hit areas to carry out disaster relief operation.