Hail in China kills 13, wounds 250, leaves 2 mn homeless

Severe hailstorms hit parts of central China, killing 13 people and leaving over 250 injured while more than 2 million people were left homeless by the extreme weather. Nine people died and 272 others injured after a hailstorm in Dongguan City in the Guangdong Province while three people died and more than 1.1 million affected during hailstorms in the Hunan Province yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. [caption id=“attachment_673344” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, villagers repair the roof of a house at Shuangxi Village of Shuangxi Township in Jing’an County, east China’s Jiangxi Province: AP[/caption] More than 2 million people have been left ravaged so far by the extreme weather which has affected 42 cities and counties in central China. One more person was killed and over 840,000 people were affected in another round of the hailstorms later yesterday, according to the ministry of civil affairs. More than 74,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes after 1,900 houses collapsed and 100,000 homes were battered in the Hunan province. The hail has caused economic losses of 357 million yuan ($57.5 million) in the Guangdong Province. The storm also damaged 92,300 hectares of crops, of which 14,900 hectares were destroyed completely, according to government sources. A disaster relief fund of 1.9 million yuan (#305,900) as well as tents, quilts and drinking water have been distributed to those in affected areas, said the officials. Heavy rain and hail is expected in the next three days in different parts of the country. PTI