Seven people were killed and several hundred were injured when torrential rains, hail and a tornado struck neighboring Jiangsu Province on  Tuesday night, Xinhua reported yesterday.
The worst-hit area was Shuyang County, where 825,000 people were affected by the bad weather, according to Sun Shujin, the county's deputy chief.
Five of the deaths and 223 injuries occurred in Shuyang. Economic losses were estimated at 1.2 billion yuan (US$145 million).
The tornado toppled trees as it passed through, destroying 194,487 houses and caused power and communication failures and the temporary halt of transportation in most areas of the county, said Sun. Services have now been restored.
Jiangsu government has dispatched a team of civil affairs officials to inspect the damage.