Tens of thousands people evacuated as China storms spread northwards

The provincial weather bureau raised the storm alert for four cities in north of Henan - Xinxiang, Anyang, Hebi and Jiaozuo - to red, highest tier of a four-step colour-coded weather warning system

Tens of thousands of people were being evacuated from flood-hit regions of central China on Thursday as officials raised the death toll from heavy rains that have deluged Henan province for almost a week to 33 people.
 

More cities were inundated and crops destroyed as the severe weather spread northwards, with the official Xinhua news agency reporting direct economic losses of 1.22 billion yuan ($189 million) so far.
 

The provincial weather bureau on Thursday raised the storm alert for four cities in the north of Henan - Xinxiang, Anyang, Hebi and Jiaozuo - to red, the highest tier of a