Already nearly 200 people have died and and at least 1.4 million have been displaced, while at least 56,000 houses have collapsed, due to unprecedentedly widespread floods across 26 provinces in central and southern China. Transport links and water and power supplies have been severely disrupted, and rescue efforts have been stepped up. The Chinese prime minister has called upon local authorities to be prepared for further rain in the wake of a typhoon which is due to hit the country tomorrow. The typhoon, with winds reaching up to 150 mph, has already battered the Philippines and Taiwan, but is losing strength gradually.