国内英语新闻:Floods leave 85 dead, 66 missing in northeast China province

CHANGCHUN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Floods have left 85 people dead and 66 missing in northeast China's Jilin Province over the past two months, local authorities said Saturday.

More than 5 million people have been affected since the flood season began in June and some 1.5 million people have been evacuated, the Jilin Provincial Civil Affairs Department said in a statement.

Additionally, almost 82,000 houses have collapsed and 198,000 others have been damaged, the statement said.

Soldiers pack stones to reinforce a bank in Yongji County, northeast China's Jilin Province, Aug. 4, 2010. Floods hit dozens of counties in Jilin, causing more than 300,000 houses collaped and over 70 people died since this July.

Direct economic losses were estimated at more than 45 billion yuan (6.6 billion U.S. dollars), it added.

In the hardest-hit areas, flash floods have cut roads, isolated villages and disrupted communications and water supplies.