BEIJING (AP) — Heavy rains that battered a city in northeastern China this week have killed 11 people and left 14 missing, while causing more than $1 billion in damage, state media reported Friday.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that a police officer trying to save lives was among those killed in the city of Huludao in Liaoning province. Rescue workers were still trying to find people who went missing during the “historically rare” devastating rains, the broadcaster said. A video from the broadcaster showed roads badly flooded.

According to preliminary estimates, 188,800 people were affected by the natural disaster, with losses of 10.3 billion yuan (about $1.4 billion), officials announced. A large number of roads, bridges and cables were damaged.

CCTV reported that the maximum daily rainfall was 52.8 centimeters (nearly 21 inches), breaking the provincial record. The worst-hit parts of the city received rain in just half a day of an entire year, and overall it was the heaviest rainfall in Huludao since meteorological records began in 1951, the company said.

China has been in the midst of a peak flood season over the past month, and Chinese policymakers have repeatedly warned that the government must step up disaster preparedness as extreme weather events become more common.

Landslides and flooding have killed more than 150 people in China in the past two months as heavy rains lashed the region.

The Associated Press