BEIJING - Rainstorm-triggered natural disasters have hit nine provincial-level regions since June 29, leaving at least 39 dead and another 13 missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) said Monday.

The ministry had reported 18 people dead and four missing in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, nine dead and four missing in East China's Anhui province and one dead in Central China's Hubei province as of 2 pm Monday.

Flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rain contributed to nine deaths and five missing cases in Southwest China's Sichuan province, as well as two deaths in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality as of 4 pm, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Natural disasters caused by the downpours have affected about 2.44 million people in 34 counties in Sichuan and forced the relocations of some 119,500 people, according to the ministry.

The rainstorms also destroyed more than 5,600 houses and damaged another 10,000, it said.

In neighboring Chongqing municipality, about 876,000 people have been affected and 104,000 evacuated amid rain-triggered disasters.

Chongqing's local government has allocated 10 million yuan (about $1.63 million) in emergency relief funds and dispatched more than 500 armed police as well as 50 emergency rescue boats for rescue work, according to the ministry.

The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the MCA initiated the level IV national emergency response system for disaster-affected Sichuan and Chongqing on Monday afternoon and sent a work group to direct on-site relief work.