At least 18 killed after storm destroys homes in south China

2011-04-18 10:06:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

GUANGZHOU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 18 people were killed on Sunday and more than 100 others were injured when a powerful storm destroyed dozens of homes in southern China, officials said on early Monday.

A statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs said strong winds, thunderstorms and hail caused widespread damage in several regions of Guangdong Province. The cities Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing and Dongguan were most affected.

As of early Monday morning, the ministry said at least 18 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured. It said 57 houses had collapsed as a result of the storm, while hundreds more have been damaged. More than 380 people were forced to evacuate.

At least 1,086 hectares (2,683 acres) of crops were also reported to have been affected. The Ministry said it estimated direct economic losses to be around 95.6 million yuan ($16.6 million).

After the storm, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Civil Affairs launched a disaster emergency response to coordinate rescue and relief efforts. It said the death toll could still rise.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-04-18

I live in Dongguan and it was a strange situation. All of a sudden, although being early afternoon, it went pitch black, the lightening was spectacular and then the rain and winds. I never saw any hail but apparently in other areas it fell very hard.Never seen anything like it before in my 34 years in Asia