BEIJING -- A flood that ravaged central China's Hunan province left at least 17 dead and four more missing. Also, a landslide caused some villages in southern Guangxi to be buried. State media reported.

Since the beginning of the month, storms have battered Hunan, with some monitoring stations reporting historic rainfall levels, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua reported that 10 people had been killed and three others were missing as a result of the floods, which have affected 1.8 million people in this largely rural, mountainous province. According to Xinhua, 286,000 people were evacuated and over 2,700 homes have been destroyed or completely collapsed.

Guangxi rescue crews were still searching Thursday for survivors in several villages near Beiliu city. The area was affected by heavy rains that left hillsides waterlogged and prone of slippages. Seven people died in the landslides. One person was missing. At least one person was pulled alive.

Warnings have been issued by authorities about heavy downpours continuing in Guangxi as well as the surrounding provinces of Jiangxi Fujian, Guangdong Hainan Sichuan Chongqing, Yunnan and Fujian.

China experiences flooding every summer, most often in the central and southern regions that receive the most rain.

China's most devastating floods of recent years occurred in 1998. More than 2,000 people were killed and nearly 3 million homes were damaged. This was mainly along the Yangtze River, China's largest river.

The government has made large investments in flood control and hydroelectric projects, such as the massive Three Gorges Dam on Yangtze.

Climate change is causing more severe tropical storms to occur around the world, which can lead to flooding that poses a threat to human lives, crops, and groundwater quality.