Poultry settle on a house submerged by floodwater yesterday in Wanning City in Hainan Province. At least one fisherman was dead and three others missing in severe flooding that forced over 213,000 people to flee their homes and submerged than 1,160 villages - all from the heaviest rains in the south China province since 1961.

AT least one fisherman was dead and three others missing as the worst flooding in decades forced the evacuation of more than 213,000 people in southern China's island province of Hainan, local authorities said yesterday.

In addition, 111 fishing boats were damaged, and 28 others sank, said Yang Yunxian, a provincialdisaster control official.

Helicopters and rescue boats have been dispatched to search for the missing fishermen, he added.

More than 213,000 people have been evacuated after more than 1,160 villages were submerged by floods in the province, triggered by the heaviest torrential rains in Hainan since 1961.

Torrential rains battered many areas of Hainan for six days.

Flooding is so severe that schools in Wanning and Qionghai cities are suspended today.

Schools in the provincial capital of Haikou, the beach resort of Sanya and Lingshui County will be closed today and tomorrow.

Parts of the island received an average 324.7 millimeters of rainfall.

Meanwhile, Asia's death toll from vicious rains spiked yesterday to 140 as disaster officials reached previously isolated areas in Vietnam.

Security forces tried to speed recovery efforts in Indonesia, home to most of the fatalities with 91 dead, by removing debris from blocked roads and fixing bridges.

In Vietnam, the death toll nearly doubled to 48 after disaster officials were finally able to access areas that had been cut off by high waters. Another 23 people remained missing as villagers started returning to areas where the water was receding.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• fisherman [´fiʃəmən] n.渔民，渔夫，打鱼人 (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)
• addition [ə´diʃən] n.加；加法；附加物 (初中英语单词)
• disaster [di´zɑ:stə] n.灾难，不幸 (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)
• resort [ri´zɔ:t] vi.求助；乞灵；诉诸 (初中英语单词)
• rainfall [´reinfɔ:l] n.雨量 (初中英语单词)
• meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
• security [si´kjuəriti] n.安全；证券；抵押品 (初中英语单词)
• previously [´pri:viəsli] ad.预先；以前 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• access [´ækses] n.接近；通路；进入 (高中英语单词)
• fishing [´fiʃiŋ] n.钓鱼；捕鱼；渔业 (英语四级单词)
• provincial [prə´vinʃəl] a.省的 n.外省人 (英语四级单词)
• vicious [´viʃəs] a.不道德的；刻毒的 (英语四级单词)