国内英语新闻:Hail storms affect 190,000 people in SW China

GUIYANG, April 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 196,700 people were affected by hail storms in southwest China's Guizhou Province over the weekend, local authorities said Monday.

Since Saturday afternoon, 23 towns of five counties or cities in Qianxinan Bouyei-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of the province have been affected, said the prefecture civil affairs department.

By 7 p.m. Sunday, 9,738 hectares of farmland were affected by the storms, among which 2,825 hectares will have no harvest.

The hail storms left 2,200 houses badly damaged and nine people injured.

Local authorities are carrying out disaster relief work and relocating residents to avoid further risks. Economic losses are still being calculated.