HAIKOU, China, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- At least one person died and several others are missing in the worst flooding in decades in China's island province of Hainan, officials said.
Additionally, more than 130,000 people have been evacuated after the floods in southern China submerged 550 villages, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Li Wenchi, director of the Qionghai Municipal Bureau of Marine Fisheries, said the flooding has damaged or stranded 44 fishing boats, and caused 15 others to sink.
He said economic losses are estimated at about $6 million. Local authorities used explosives to open a reservoir in the provincial capital of Haikou in an effort to reduce rapidly rising waters that could cause a collapse, the report said.
Hainan Island is a popular tropical tourist resort and attracts millions of visitors every year. Torrential rains have battered many areas of Hainan for seven days, and are the heaviest since 1961, an official said. Some areas received nearly 13 inches of rain.
Water levels at five reservoirs are reaching dangerous levels, and flooding damaged two highways, a pair of national routes, and numerous roads and bridges, the report said.
