BEIJING, April 5 -- Floods, hail and mudslides in seven south China provinces since Friday have caused three deaths, leaving three others missing, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Tuesday.

Downpours triggered floods and landslides in Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou, the ministry said in a statement.

As of 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, these disasters have affected 242,000 people .

More than 1,300 residents have been relocated and over 1,000 are in need of basic necessities.

The disasters also damaged more than 13,700 hectares of farmland, and inflicted direct economic loss of about 150 million yuan (23 million U.S. dollars), the statement said.