UPDATE 2 - At least 114 dead as north China hit by flooding

*UPDATES THROUGHOUT

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) – At least 114 people have been killed and 111 others remain missing in China's northern Hebei Province, as torrential rains continue to trigger floods and landslides across the country.

State news agency Xinhua cited the provincial civil affairs bureau as saying that as of Saturday evening nearly 310,000 people had been evacuated as weeklong stormy conditions toppled around 52,900 houses and damaged 155,000.

Xinhua had earlier reported that at least 93 people were killed and 86 others remained missing in northern and eastern provinces including Hebei -- where the death toll previously stood at 72.

More than 700,000 hectares of crops were destroyed in the province, which suffered direct economic losses of over 16 billion yuan ($2.4 billion).

An average precipitation of 545.4 mm was recorded in the province’s Jingxing County during a 19-hour period from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning. The amount exceeded the total precipitation experienced in the county last year.

Meanwhile, at least 15 people were killed and eight others went missing in central Henan province while six people were reported dead in Shanxi, according to local authorities Saturday.

The torrential rain has forced 72,000 people to evacuateChina has been swept by weeks of heavy rainfall since mid-June, with state media reporting last week that more than 230 fatalities were recorded in over 1,508 counties in 28 provinces.

According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, floods and geological disasters left more than 360 people dead or missing in the first six months of this year, resulting in direct economic losses of over 45.51 billion yuan ($6.8 billion).