Candidates for this year's national college entrance exams (gaokao) in Shexian county in Huangshan, East China's Anhui Province have to take a boat to the exam site as the place has been flooded due to heavy rainfall. Local authorities canceled the Chinese language and mathematics tests on the first day of the exams. Photo: VCG

Central China's Hubei Province lifted its emergency response to flood prevention to Level II from III on Thursday afternoon after rain intensity in the province's four cities surpassed records.

Waterlogging, a landslide, reservoir overflow and traffic interruptions have hit Hubei as torrential rain engulfed the province by Wednesday, the Voice of Hubei under Hubei TV reported Thursday.

Floodwaters have affected more than 9 million people, with 14 dead, 5 missing and 204,400 evacuated in the province's 17 cities and prefectures by Thursday morning. More than 3,000 houses were destroyed, and more than 5,000 others were heavily damaged.

The disaster caused property damage worth 11.1 billion yuan ($1.57 billion). 

The water level of the Hubei section of the Yangtze River rose, the report said.

As of press time, heavy rain is still falling, with water levels in rivers, lakes and reservoirs rising, the Voice of Hubei reported.

Besides Hubei, heavy rainfall has been hitting southern China, causing floods.

Poyang county in Central China's Jiangxi Province on Thursday night lifted its flood prevention emergency response to Level I, as the water level has surpassed the one in 1998, when a serious flood hitting southern China. More than 9,000 people threatened by floodwaters have been evacuated and resettled, the local publicity department said.

The flood broke an 800-year-old bridge, the Rainbow Bridge, in Wuyuan county, Jiangxi, which is famous for its village scenery. The local government asked netizens to help locate parts of the bridge that were flushed away, local media reported.