Heavy downpours have lashed many areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, increasing the risk of natural disasters and prompting local authorities to relocate thousands of people.

Rainstorms since Friday have pushed up water levels in 14 rivers. More than 120,000 people have been affected by the flooding of rivers, with local authorities relocating over 4,600 people.

Floodwaters have inundated 4,578 hectares of farmland and crops and damaged 204 houses. Traffic on many road was disrupted due to landslides.

The rainstorms have incurred direct economic losses of 176 million yuan ($27.5 million) in Sichuan so far.

Dazhou, another prefecture-level city in the provincem activated the highest alert for rainstorms on Sunday morning as two major rivers flowing through might cause flooding.