A flooded sports ground along the Yangtze River in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. Floods in the country caused by continuous heavy rain since last month have affected some 54.8 million people in 27 provincial regions as of Tuesday, said the Ministry of Emergency Management. Floods in these areas, including the provinces of Jiangxi, Anhui and Hubei, have left 158 people dead or missing and forced the relocation of around 3.76 million people. About 368,000 houses have been damaged and direct economic losses amounted to 144.4 billion yuan (S$28.4 billion). The ministry said it will continue to dispatch rescue forces and allocate supplies to flood-hit regions. Relief items such as two million woven bags and 1.52 million sq m of woven fabric had been allocated from national reserves to Hunan, while another 65,000 items, including blankets and folding beds, had been sent to Anhui and Jiangxi. The patrolling of dikes and sluices around the Yangtze River, Huai River and Taihu Lake will be strengthened to ensure safety during flood prevention work, said the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.