1 / 9Flooding in south and central China has caused more than a dozen deaths and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, the government said on Wednesday.2 / 9About 228,000 people have had to seek emergency shelter due to flooding since June 2, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.3 / 9Initial damage was estimated at more than $500 million, including the destruction of more than 1,000 homes.4 / 9Flooding was particularly bad in the southern region of Guangxi, where six were listed as dead and one missing, and in Hunan province.5 / 9Seasonal flooding generally causes heavy damage each year in the lower regions of China's major river systems, particularly those of the Yangtze and the Pearl to the south.6 / 9Authorities have sought to reduce the hardship through the use of dams, particularly the massive Three Gorges structure on the Yangtze.7 / 9China's worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost 3 million homes were destroyed.8 / 9The country has been facing the wrath of other nations due to the careless handling of coronavirus pandemic which has wrecked havoc across the globe.9 / 9Popular tourist region in south already affected by coronavirus downturn is battered by downpours sparking mudslides