Rescuers search for 9 missing in China landslide

Rescuers in central China on Wednesday were searching for nine people missing after a landslide was triggered amid widespread flooding across much of country.

disaster struck Huangmei county in Hubei province at around 4 a.m., according to rescue services.

Ar 40 people were rescued and moved to shelter, y said.

This year's annual floods come as China appears to have won at least a temporary victory over coronavirus outbreak that is believed to have originated in Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan late last year.

floods have left more than 120 people dead or missing across several provinces.

State broadcaster CCTV showed scenes of towns inundated with head-high waters in provinces of Anhui, Hubei and Zhejiang provinces.

Waters rose above warning levels in 19 rivers, five lakes and more than 400 reservoirs in Anhui, a mountaius inland region just west of Shanghai and or major urban centers along east coast.

Nearly 30,000 people were evacuated in Hubei's Huanggang city after water started seeping from a reservoir, prompting emergency workers to shore up structure and dig a channel to release overflow.

flooding has forced rescheduling of portions of crucial four-day national college entrance exams for some students.

test had already been delayed for a month because of coronavirus outbreak.

Anhui and neighboring Hubei appear to have been hardest by this summer's seasonal rains.

Dams have been estimated in hundreds of millions of dollars, adding to pressure on a national ecomy still reeling from effects of virus-related shutdowns and loss of overseas markets.

Key tourist destinations in China's south have sustained flooding dam that is compounding financial stress caused by massive drop-off in visitor numbers.