Fifteen people were killed and four others were missing as of 7 a.m. Wednesday following the latest round of torrential rains in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

The heavy rains, mainly seen in the areas along the Yangtze River, have triggered floods and geological disasters, disrupting the lives of more than 130,000 people in 19 districts and counties, according to the municipal bureau of emergency management on July 5.

Over 7,500 hectares of crops have been damaged, the bureau said in a statement.

Chongqing’s Wanzhou District was the hardest hit, with a maximum rainfall of 261.2 millimeters, reaching the highest level of precipitation with more than 250 millimeters. As of July 5, rainfall had caused the collapse of 138 houses and damage to 221 houses in the district. Over 1,949 hectares of crops have also been damaged.

On July 4, China's National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Emergency Management raised the relief response to Level IV and dispatched a working group to Wanzhou District to guide the disaster relief work.

Also on Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management earmarked 320 million yuan ($44 million) of disaster relief funds to support relief efforts in 16 provincial-level regions, including Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province.

Thousands of rescuers were dispatched to the front line. Wanzhou District dispatched a total of more than 2,500 emergency forces.

So far, more than 4,500 people have been safely evacuated. Eleven rivers in the city that exceeded warning levels earlier due to the heavy rainfall have all fallen below the warning level.

According to the city's meteorological center, it is expected that from the early morning of July 6 to the night of July 7, there will be heavy to torrential rain in some parts of central and eastern Chongqing, and the risk of disasters caused by heavy rain remains high.

(With input from Xinhua)

(If you have specific expertise and want to contribute, or if you have a topic of interest that you'd like to share with us, please email us at nature@cgtn.com.)