BEIJING - The number of people killed or missing in devastating floods across China this year has risen to more than 2,100, according to the government, as weather authorities warn of yet more rain.

The nation`s civil affairs ministry said late Friday 1,454 people had died in floods this year, another 669 were still missing and more than 12 million had been evacuated from their homes.

Large swathes of China have been hit by summer deluges that have triggered the worst floods in a decade, caused countless deadly landslides and swollen many large rivers to dangerous levels.

According to the ministry, 1.4 million homes have been destroyed by the floods that have also caused 275 billion yuan (41 billion dollars) in direct economic losses.

These official figures cover the entire year so far, and it is therefore unclear how many people have died or gone missing in the more recent, summer floods.

China`s northeast is currently the worst-hit area, with entire towns flooded and rivers bordering North Korea swollen to critical levels, prompting fears of inundations in both countries.

China`s national meteorological centre said Saturday that large swathes of the nation would see rain in the next 24 hours, although it added the rainfall would be light in most areas.

But it warned that the northeast would once again be hit by torrential downpours from Sunday.

BDST: 13:05 HRS, August 07, 2010