Waters have cut off roads, left villages inaccessible and knocked out communications and water supplies in the hardest-hit areas, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

About 37,000 houses have been swept away while floodwaters damaged 125,000 others, the report said. About 592,000 residents have been evacuated from waterlogged areas.

"The flood is unprecedented. Its devastation is appalling," Sun Jingyuan, a top official in Antu County in Jilin's Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian was quoted as saying.

Seventy houses in a village in Antu were wiped out, while 570 families were forced to leave their homes in a mountain valley after the area was submerged beneath 20 metres (66 feet) of water, the report said.

Soldiers reached the isolated town of Liangjiang late Saturday to help 10,000 residents evacuate, Sun said.

Further downstream, soldiers, police and firemen continued to retrieve thousands of barrels full of explosive chemicals that were washed away by flood waters into the Songhua River.

Water supplies to the nearby city of Jilin were temporarily cut after the incident on Wednesday, leaving 4.3 million people dependent on bottled water.

A total of 7,000 barrels were washed into the river, with around half of them containing volatile chemicals, Xinhua said.

Around 6,400 barrels had been recovered by Sunday evening, Xinhua said, but it was not clear how many of them contained the toxic substances.

Boats were chained together across the 500-metre (1,650-foot) -wide waterway to block the barrels from going further downstream, but officials in neighboring Heilongjiang confirmed the chemicals had affected their water.

The barrels were being rapidly swept down the river, after the Fengman Dam floodgates opened Friday afternoon, and experts feared the barrels could explode if they hit a dam further downstream.

Until now, torrential rains have mostly hit China's south, swelling the Yangtze River -- the nation's longest waterway -- and some of its tributaries to dangerous levels.

The worst flooding in a decade has left more than 1,000 dead and hundreds missing since the beginning of the year and caused more than 28 billion dollars of damage, according to the latest official figures, and authorities have warned of more to come.

earlier related report
Floods kill 37 in China's northeast: state media
Beijing (AFP) July 31, 2010 - The death toll from floods sweeping through northeastern China has risen to 37, state media said Saturday, as authorities raced to intercept 12 heavy vessels hurtling down a major waterway.

Torrential rains in Jilin province have left a further 35 people missing as more than 364,000 people were evacuated from waterlogged areas, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The weather bureau has predicted more heavy rain for the central and eastern parts of the hard-hit province, with experts warning of further flooding and landslides.

Water, electricity and telecommunication services were cut in parts of the province, while train services in the town of Kouqian were suspended after the railway station was surrounded by flood waters, previous reports said.

More than 95,000 buildings have been damaged in the floods, with 25,000 destroyed, Xinhua said.

Floodwater up to three metres (10 feet) deep in some places submerged factories and houses, reports said earlier this week, before the waters receded to about one metre.

Elsewhere in Jilin, hundreds of soldiers and many boats were mobilised to stop 12 heavy vessels being swept down the Songhua River towards a major dam, Xinhua said.

The vessels, weighing up to 12 tonnes each, broke their moorings early Saturday and were heading towards the Fengman dam.

Further downstream, hundreds of workers continued to retrieve 3,000 barrels full of explosive chemicals that were washed by flood waters into the Songhua River.

Water supplies to the nearby city of Jilin were temporarily cut after the incident on Wednesday, leaving 4.3 million people dependent on bottled water.

A total of 7,000 barrels were washed into the river, with 2,500 containing the chemical trimethyl chloro silicane -- a highly explosive, colorless liquid -- while 500 contained the compound hexamethyl disilazane, Xinhua said.

About 4,260 barrels had been recovered by Saturday afternoon, the report said, but it was not clear how many of them contained the toxic chemicals.

The barrels are being swept down the river at a faster pace than before, after the Fengman Dam floodgates were opened Friday afternoon, and experts are worried the barrels could explode if they hit a dam further downstream.

Jilin is the latest province to have been hit by deadly floods that have killed more than 300 people since July 14 and left another 300 missing, according to the latest official figures.

Until now, torrential rains have mostly hit China's south, swelling the Yangtze River -- the nation's longest waterway -- and some of its tributaries to dangerous levels.

In northeastern Liaoning province, 55 South Korean tourists stranded on a bus for four hours by floods in Muqi town have been rescued, Xinhua said.

In the far-western Xinjiang region, rescuers were trying to reach 700 residents, construction workers and tourists trapped by floods.

Floodwaters have damaged three bridges and a dozen buildings in the central part of the region, with more than 13,000 people from the area preparing to reinforce dykes to contain floods.

The worst flooding in a decade has left 991 dead and 558 missing since the beginning of the year and caused more than 28 billion dollars in damage, latest official figures show, and authorities have warned of more to come.

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