Frost and heavy rains are predicted to last until Wednesday in Minxian county, area in Gansu province hit hardest by storms over the weekend, and rescuers and relief workers will face difficulties helping affected residents.

The storms and hail had hospitalized 114 people with nearly 30,000 evacuated as of Sunday?in Minxian county, area in Gansu province. [chinanews.com]

Materials such as quilts and coal are in urgent need, an official with the county's civil affairs bureau told China Daily on Monday.

The storms and hail had hospitalized 114 people with nearly 30,000 evacuated as of Sunday.

Direct economic losses soared to nearly 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) on Sunday, according to the local government.

The storms on May 10 damaged homes and schools, destroyed seven bridges and blocked 23 roads, according to local authorities.

Bad weather conditions may increase the death toll and expand damage and economic losses with parts of the area suffering blackouts and telecommunication disruption.

The temperature in the rainstorm-hit region fell below zero at night on Sunday and Monday, according to a report from Lanzhou Morning Post.

Shi Youkui, head of Hetuo village in Minxian, told Lanzhou Morning Post that cold is the biggest problem because of the shortage of stoves and cotton-padded clothes.

Snow fell in Hetuo village on Sunday morning and the temperature fell below zero, the local meteorological bureau said.

Many volunteers, including psychological counselors, have gone to the county to help.

Three mobile hospitals and five medical treatment groups were established shortly after the fatal storms to treat the sick and avoid a possible infectious-disease outbreak, according to the local government.

A 32,000-square-meter area of Minxian county had been disinfected and 6,085 dead animals buried as of Monday, local authorities said.

At least 63,000 heads of livestock were found dead due to the storms.

The death toll from the rainstorms has risen to at least 49, with 23 still missing as of Sunday, authorities said.

Li Jianhua, vice-governor of Gansu province, said at a disaster-relief conference on Sunday that searching for the missing and treating the injured are crucial tasks.

The Gansu provincial civil affairs bureau said on Saturday that the families of those killed will get 8,000 yuan each as compensation.

Li said reconstruction in the disaster-hit area will be launched as soon as possible and reconstruction should avoid areas at high risk for geological disasters.