Rescuers evacuating residents in a flooded area in China's south-western Chongqing in this photo taken on Sunday and released yesterday. It was the municipality's worst flood since 1940.

China's national observatory yesterday renewed its blue alert for rainstorms as incessant downpours continued to wreak havoc in vast stretches of the country.

Torrential rain in the regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang is expected to last until today. Some of these regions will see up to 70mm of hourly precipitation accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds.