At least 33 folk were killed, and hundreds of thousands fled for their lives as heavy rains flood China's Henan shire.

The heavy rains, which started late last week, cut off levin and water almost bringing Zhengzhou to a halt, the main town of the Henan shire.

Henan is where the old Chinese fighting ways were born, and home to many kung fu lorehouses, such as the Shaolin shrine, which was smashed by the floods.

Roads have become stours, with wains and trash swept along in fast flowing water. Films shared on the web shows evening drivers barely keeping their heads above water as they climbed on top of their rides.

Late on Tuesday night, the rainstorms got so bad that it sunk Zhengzhou's underground tugwain, killing 12 who were locked inside, and hurting others.

A few big dams and lakes have breached, and thousands of harmen have been sent out to build everything back up.

The rainfall in the stead was the heaviest since mark keeping began 60 years ago, and more rains are forecast for the coming days.