Strong gales and hailstones have lashed southwest China's Sichuan Province, destroying houses and
farmland, local authorities said on Monday.
The extreme weather conditions hit 27 counties, cities and
districts of Sichuan on Saturday when the wind speed reached 100 km
per hour and the largest hailstones measured five centimeters in
diameter, a spokesman with the Provincial Disaster Relief Office
said.
Latest statistics show that 1.76 million people were affected. A
total of 123,000 people were relocated and 165,000 houses and
38,000 hectares of farmland were ruined, the spokesman said.
The direct economic losses are estimated to be 380 million yuan
(US$47.5 million), including 320 million (US$40 million) in
agriculture, he said.
The provincial government have allocated one million yuan
(US$125,000) and 100 tents for the disaster-stricken areas, and has
also dispatched five working teams to guide the disaster relief
work there, he said.
Sichuan has seen abnormal weather in recent days with the
temperature even rising to 32 degrees Celsius, the spokesman
said,
The local meteorological station forecast thunderstorms and
showers in most parts of the province from Monday night until
Tuesday morning, and further gales and hail in other parts of the
province.
(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2007)