At least 22 people have died and seven others remain missing after downpours hit provinces in south China, local authorities said on Sunday. The rainstorms, the type that occur once every 100 years due to their ferocity, lashed Guangzhou, Zhaoqing and Qingyuan cities in Guangdong and caused floods, the collapse of houses and mud flows, said the provincial flood control and civil affairs authorities, according to (Xinhua) news agency. More than 140,000 people were affected, 21,000 were evacuated and 1,143 houses collapsed, said the provincial civil affairs department.