China: at least 228 killed by storm Bilis; 156 people missing

The storm, which slammed into China's southeastern coast on July 14, forced 2.95 million people to flee their homes as flooding, landslides and high winds wrecked 212,000 houses and damaged 287,000 others, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Photo: China: at least 228 killed by storm Bilis; 156 people missing

China: at least 228 killed by storm Bilis; 156 people missing

The death toll in crowded Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong, rose Friday by 19 to 63, while the toll in neighboring Guangxi province rose by one to 30, Xinhua said.

Hardest-hit was the inland province of Hunan, where 92 people were killed, Xinhua said. It said there were 43 deaths in coastal Fujian province.

Flooding and landslides were reported across a swath of southern China from coastal Fujian and Zhejiang provinces through Guangdong and Guangxi to the inland provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi.

Flood waters washed away roads, cut power supplies and submerged part of China's main north-south railway line, according to the AP.