Updated

Chinese state media say a strong storm that hammered a southern city has left at least eight people dead and four missing.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that all deaths and the missing people were reported in the city of Xinyi, which was hit the hardest by Friday's storm.

The Xinyi government says it is the heaviest rainfall since 1954, when authorities started to collect weather data.

Xinyi says the accumulative precipitation was 46.3 centimeters (18.2 inches) from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon. For one hour, authorities say they recorded 13.3 centimeters (5.2 inches) in rainfall.

It says more 540,000 people have been affected by the storm, which has drenched homes, broken levees, flooded farmland and disrupted traffic.