国内英语新闻:China to battle storms following heat wave

The alarm also sounded in southwest China's Guizhou province where a rain-triggered landslide a week ago had left 99 villagers dead or missing.

For six days beginning late Thursday, most parts of Guizhou will experience heavy rainfalls, including sporadic storms or thunder storms, said the provincial weather forecast bureau.

"The upcoming storms are very likely to trigger mud flows, landslides or other disasters because the rainfall is forecast to be strong and would last for days," the bureau said in a statement.

Rescuers work at the site of a landslide in Guanling County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on July 1, 2010. Rescuers have recovered 12 bodies from the ruins by far, three days after a devastating rain-triggered landslide destroyed 37 houses and buried 99 villagers under mud.

Government departments were urged to beef up prevention efforts and enhance the monitoring of disaster-prone areas such as reservoirs and low-lying areas.

Guizhou was struck by a string of natural disasters caused by extreme weather one after another this year.

In the latest tragedy, 99 people were buried when a rain-triggered landslide engulfed Dazhai village in Guanling County on June 28. Rescuers had discovered 42 bodies, but had given up searching for the remaining 57, saying no traces of life were detected at the wreckage site.