China's northeastern region has seen its worst flooding in half a century.

The heavy rainfall has finally begun to ease after hammering the region for the past week. It caused floods, backed up roads and toppled houses. The floods have so far killed at least 72 people, and affected nearly 4 million others.

In the province of Heilongjiang, the major tributaries of Heilongjiang, Nenjiang and Songhuajiang have seen record high water levels. Authorities have issued an orange alert for severe flooding for Songhuajiang River.

In Jilin Province, more than 200 counties and townships have suffered damage, though authorities say there's no major risks for the province's key reservoirs and dams. And in the province of Liaoning, the counties of Qingyuan, Xinbin and Fushun city have been the worst-hit by flooding.

So far more than 350,000 people in northeast China have been relocated because of the flooding. But crippled transportation in some parts has also posed a difficulty for rescue efforts. Hundreds of hectares of farmland have also been inundated. An initial estimate of the economic losses suffered by the three provinces totaled 10 billion yuan, or over $1.6 billion.

(CNTV.cn August 20, 2013)