Four days of rain and hail storms triggered mountain torrents and landslides in China`s central province of Hunan, killing at least seven people, Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Seven cities and 21 counties suffered the worst of the downpours which started on Thursday and subsided early on Monday, the provincial civil affairs department was quoted as saying.

Flood waters and landslides destroyed 87,500 hectares (338 square miles) of farmland and brought down 3,500 houses, causing direct economic damage of 443 million yuan (US$55.30 million). "The disasters affected the normal life of 1.42 million people in the province, among whom 14,100 were relocated," the department was quoted as saying.

China is hit by droughts, floods, typhoons and blizzards each year, with the death toll from natural disasters in 2005 almost 2,500, according to government statistics.
(Planet Ark, 09/05/2006)