2 million affected by China floods

The worst flooding in China's Zhejiang province since 1955 has now affected more than 2 million people with more than 170 people dead or missing.

The official state Xinhua News Agency reports that this months downpours are also pushing up food prices with 422,500 acres of farmland inundated and direct financial damage estimated at almost 5 billion yuan ($772 million).

The government has mobilised troops to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people and China's disaster alert has been raised to the highest level, four. Torrential rains earlier this week triggered landslides that buried houses and killed at least two people in Zhejiang and another two in Hubei.

The floods come after months of drought in the centre and north of the country, with areas along the Yangtze River suffering their worst drought in half a century. Despite the rain, officials have warned that the crop shortages and dislocation caused by drought will remain severe.