The Chinese capital saw more than 29 inches (74cm) of rain between Saturday and Wednesday morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall from the tail-end of Typhoon Doksuri has led to the worst storms in northern China in over a decade, causing severe flooding in Beijing and the surrounding province of Hebei, where a state of emergency has been declared.

The previous rainfall record was 24 inches (70cm), set in 1891, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said on its official Weibo account on Wednesday.

At least 20 people are dead and 27 are missing, officials said, after waters, which have risen to dangerous levels, destroyed roads, left some without power and damaged pipes carrying drinking water.

The number of people who are trapped by flood waters in the city and surrounding villages is not known.

Thousands of rescue workers have been sent to one of the worst-hit areas, Zhuozhou, a city of more than 600,000 residents southwest of Beijing.

More than 134,000 of them have been affected, with more than a sixth of the city's population evacuated.

A residential area twice the size of Paris has been waterlogged, and nearly 1610 acres (6.5 sq km) of agricultural land has also been affected.

The local public security bureau said on Tuesday the city faced water shortages and a partial power outage.

Rafts, life jackets and emergency supplies were urgently needed, the bureau said, amid reports of water levels rising as high as 13 feet (4m).

A state of emergency has been declared by officials in Hebei after 14 inches (35cm) fell since Saturday, the heaviest rains since at least July 2012.

On Tuesday night, police issued a plea on Weibo for lights to assist with rescue work.

Thousands of people were evacuated to shelters in schools and other public buildings in suburban Beijing and in nearby cities.

People in the capital city have been surprised by the severity of the flooding, as Beijing summers are usually dry and a record-breaking hot spell occurred earlier this year.

The earliest precise rainfall recordings made by machines are from 1883.