Death toll in floods triggered by rainstorms that hit northwest China's Shaanxi Province rose to 19, with 37 others missing, a spokesman with the provincial headquarters of flood control said on Friday.

The rainstorms, which started to hit Ankang City in southeastern of Shaanxi on Monday evening, has caused direct economic losses of 280 million yuan, he said.

More than 60 percent of townships in Ankang City have been affected. Local army troops have been mobilized to transport disaster relief materials to areas worst hit by floods.

China has experienced severe flooding and droughts this year, with 1,279 people dead and 239 missing in natural disasters in the first seven months of this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said earlier this week.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2007)