The 40-hour continuous rain in the Chinese capital, Beijing, broke a 140-year-old record, with the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in 1891.

The Beijing Meteorological Department said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the recent rains, caused by the storm, have broken the record for rainfall in the Chinese capital set 140 years ago.

The Beijing Meteorological Service stated that “The maximum rainfall recorded during this storm was 744.8 mm, which occurred at the Wangjiwan Water Reservoir in Changping”.

China says 20 people have been killed in floods in the northern region as a result of the storm. Military helicopters are delivering aid to the flood victims.

Service added that the highest volume of rain recorded 140 years ago was 609 millimeters. Which is 135.8 mm less than this time.

Typhoon Doksuri is a former super typhoon that initially hit the Philippines then it moved towards the southern Fujian province last week and is now moving north over China.

According to the Meteorological Department, the rainfall recorded in just 40 hours is close to the average rainfall for the entire month of July.

State media warned last week that 130 million people would be affected by heavy rains in northern China.

Beijing’s suburbs and surrounding areas are also badly affected by the rain. According to state media, 974,400 people in the capital and neighboring Hebei province have been evacuated.

State news agency Xinhua reported, that after the rain eased, the focus shifted towards relief efforts, with hundreds of Chinese Red Cross aid workers sent to hard-hit areas to help clear debris and evacuate victims.

State broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday stating that the heavy rainfall has killed at least 11 people in Beijing, including two rescue and relief workers on duty.

Thirteen people are still missing, but another 14 have been found safe, the broadcaster said. Nine people are dead and six are missing in Beijing’s neighboring Hebei province.

Two more deaths were reported in northeastern Liaoning province over the weekend.

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged “everything possible” to rescue people “lost or stranded” by the rains.

Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, visiting a relief work site in Beijing’s Mantagu, one of the worst-hit areas of the capital, urged that every effort should be made to rescue the missing.