Beijing  - Severe rainstorms have killed at least 14 people, left seven missing and destroyed hundreds of homes in southern and central China, state media said on Sunday.

At least eight people died and two were missing in Enshi prefecture in Hubei province, where torrential rain since Friday affected some 785,000 people, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Four children were among those who died in Enshi, after three of them were buried by a landslide and another child was washed away in a flash flood, the agency said.

Rescuers were still searching for two people missing since their truck plunged into a local river on Saturday, it said.

The local government evacuated more than 14,000 people from vulnerable low-lying areas of Enshi, while about 12,000 were evacuated from other areas of Hubei.

About 900 houses were destroyed and 2,200 damaged by floods and landslides caused by the heavy rain in the prefecture.

At least six more people died in the neighbouring province of Sichuan and seven were missing in the two provinces, the official China Daily newspaper said.

More heavy rain was forecast for parts of northern China over the next two days. (dpa)