XI'AN -- Floods caused by a rainstorm that hit northwest China's Shaanxi Province have claimed 17 lives with 33 others missing, an official with the provincial headquarters of flood control said on Wednesday.

The rainstorms that ravaged Ankang in the southeast of Shaanxi on Monday evening and Tuesday morning have caused flooding in seven rivers, along with several landslides and mud-rock flows, the official said.

About 175,000 people were affected. The rainstorms also destroyed crops on 720 hectares of farmland and toppled down 5,450 houses. A highway was closed with 15 cave-ins.

Direct economic loss stood at 163 million yuan (US$21.5 million), said the flood control official.

China has experienced severe flooding and droughts this year and more than 700 people have been killed by lightning, landslides and floods this summer.