Heavy Rainstorms Kill 11 People, Leave 14 Missing in Northeastern Chinese City

 In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk across a river after delivering relief items to affected people on the other bank in Heishanke Township, Huludao City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Yang Qing/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk across a river after delivering relief items to affected people on the other bank in Heishanke Township, Huludao City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Yang Qing/Xinhua via AP)
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Heavy Rainstorms Kill 11 People, Leave 14 Missing in Northeastern Chinese City

 In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk across a river after delivering relief items to affected people on the other bank in Heishanke Township, Huludao City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Yang Qing/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk across a river after delivering relief items to affected people on the other bank in Heishanke Township, Huludao City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Yang Qing/Xinhua via AP)

Heavy rainstorms that swept a city in northeast China this week killed 11 people and left 14 others missing, while causing more than $1 billion in damages, state media reported Friday.

State broadcaster CCTV said an officer who was trying to save lives was one of the people who died in the city of Huludao in Liaoning province. Rescuers were still trying to find the people who went missing during the “historically rare” destructive rainfall, it said. An image from the broadcaster showed roads seriously flooded.

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

CCTV said the maximum daily rainfall recorded was 52.8 centimeters (nearly 21 inches), breaking the provincial record. The hardest-hit parts of the city experienced a year’s worth of rain in just half a day, and overall it was the strongest rainfall in Huludao since meteorological records began in 1951, it said.

The Chinese government allocated a fund of 50 million yuan ($7 million) to support disaster relief efforts.

China was in the middle of its peak flood season over the past month. Chinese policymakers have repeatedly warned that the government needs to step up disaster preparations as severe weather becomes more common.

Landslides and flooding have killed more than 150 people around China in the past two months as torrential rainstorms battered the region.



Russian Attack Kills Two in City of Poltava, Ukrainian Officials Say

A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS
A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS
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Russian Attack Kills Two in City of Poltava, Ukrainian Officials Say

A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS
A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS

A Russian attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine killed two people and damaged a military recruitment center, the Ukrainian military and regional officials said on Thursday.

Regional governor Volodymyr Kohut said 11 people were also wounded, while the military reported fires in the military recruitment building and in a nearby residential building, reported Reuters.

Photos from the scene posted by emergency services showed firefighters battling blazes as well as damaged buildings and cars.

Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in the last month, and has launched some of the biggest attacks since its full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

The aerial assault followed a drone attack on Monday near a military recruitment center in the central city of Kryvyi Rih.

Civilians were wounded in Kryvyi Rih, the military said, adding that military personnel and civilian employees of the recruitment center had sheltered during the air alert.

Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, have underlined the urgency of assistance on air defense from allies to defend against such assaults.