Thousands of villagers in Fujian Province, on the east China seaboard, are homeless after hail the size of eggs pelted the area punching holes in their homes on Sunday.

The provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said five counties were hit by hail storms and numerous others were damaged by thunder storms and torrential rains.

The hail storm destroyed the roofs of many houses in Youxi, Yongtai, Changle and Minqing.

In Shenghuang Town of Minqing County, one of the worst hit areas, the roofs of 7,800 rooms were destroyed by hail, affecting 10,000 residents from 4,000 households. The storm caused direct economic losses of 11.7 million yuan (about US$1.47 million).

Hail also destroyed power supply facilities in Lingkou, a village in Jian'ou, a county-level city in northern Fujian. About 1,000 people from 400 households in the village were left homeless.

Between 8 AM Sunday to 8 AM Monday, 18 counties in the province experienced rainfall of between 50 mm to 99 mm. Ninghua County had the most rain with 175 mm falling during the 24-hour period, said sources from the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters

The rains caused the water level in two local rivers to surge above the danger line.

Local weather forecasters say temperatures will drop on Monday and more rain, strong winds and hail are predicted for many parts of the province.

So far there have been no reports of casualties.

Local governments are providing aid to those affected by the bad weather.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2007)