Fifteen people have died and five others have gone missing after heavy rains pounded China's Guangdong province triggering landslides, mudflows and heavy flooding.

Local authorities said the rainstorms, which only happen once every one hundred years, heavily affected the areas of Guangzhou, Qingyuan and Zhaoqing.

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The provincial flood and civil affairs office said heavy rains caused 1,143 houses to collapse, prompting local government officers to evacuate around 21,000 residents.

Since Wednesday, the rainstorms have affected 800,000 people, brought down 3,000 homes and forced the evacuation of 60,000 people, authorities said.

Heavy rains in other China provinces also caused 16 national and provincial highways to close.

Media reports said provincial officials have activated emergency response teams to deliver relief goods to locations that were affected by the rainstorms.

In April, 21 people were reported to have died in southern China following heavy rains. Some 1.2 million people were affected in Guangxi, Guangdong, Chongqing, Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian. Government response teams evacuated a total of 17,000 people from these areas after rainfall levels reached as much as 300 mm.

Earlier this month, officials raised the blue alert level over Hubei, Anhui, Guizhou, Hubei and Zhejiang provinces. The National Meteorological Center advised the public that rainfall levels would reach between 100 to 130 mm and would affect northeastern Jiangxi.

Tagsheavy rainstorms, National Meteorological Center