China's National Meteorological Center says rainstorms will pelt the country's southwestern regions over the next three days while the south will continue to experience high temperatures.

More rainstorms to hit China's soaked southwest

From Tuesday to Thursday, storms will likely batter Chongqing Municipality and some areas in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. Severe rainstorms are expected to hit the northern part of the Sichuan Basin.

The continuous downpours that have wreaked havoc in Sichuan since Thursday evening have left six people dead, four others missing and have forced over 27 thousand people to relocate.

Rain-triggered mudslides have also cut off access to a pivotal highway in Sichuan, which links it with neighboring Yunnan and Gansu provinces.

The highway was referred to as a "lifeline" by rescue workers following the devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred in Sichuan's Wenchuan County.

Downpours on Monday morning triggered new cave-ins of the highway, which greatly hindered repair work.

Overall, the National Disaster Reduction Commission says floods, landslides and hail have caused direct economic losses of about 2 billion yuan.

In order to deal with the likelihood of more heavy rains, the commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have jointly launched a response program.

They have requested local civil affairs departments to keep in touch with authorities of meteorology, land resources and water resources in case of the possible further disasters, and issue timely media warnings to the residents if necessary.

The program's operators have also advised the central government's disaster relief material warehouses to prepare for the possible disasters to ensure that relief supplies can reach the affected areas quickly and safely.