Hail storms have killed one and injured two people in Ha Giang province on April 19, according to the provincial steering committee on natural disasters.

Ha Giang authorities inspect the recovery of damages due to hail storms.

The hail collapsed houses in Tham Nu village, Du Tien commune, Yen Minh district, killing a three-year-old boy and injured a 23-year-old woman.

A 78-year-old woman from Ta Lung A village, Sang Tung commune, Meo Vac district was injured by a falling tree.

Torential rains accompanied by whirlwinds also damaged hundreds of houses, killed local cattle and destroyed dozens of hectares of crops in the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang and the central province of Thanh Hoa and the central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

The southern province of Binh Phuoc also suffered losses estimated at five billion VND (225,000 USD) due to the collapse of houses and other facilities caused by whirlwinds.

50 homes in Central Highlands ruined by cyclonic hailstorm

A hailstorm has swept through an area of Gia Lai Province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, heavily damaging 50 homes.

Damage inflicted by the hailstorm which accompanied a cyclone that struck Ia Rsai Commune in Krong Pa District had been calculated, the People’s Committee in the district confirmed on Monday afternoon.

A total of 50 homes were ravaged by the climatic event, of which 26 had their roofs blown off, with repair costs estimated at hundreds of millions of dong (VND100 million = US$4,484), said Hiao Buk, vice chairman of the People’s Committee in Ia Rsai.

According to Ralan Nuon, a local resident, his entire house, which was only recently constructed, was moved from its original location by the cyclone.

Meanwhile, Hiao Thuyen, another resident of the commune, reported that the metal roof of his house was ripped off by the wind, resulting in several 10-meter-long pieces of metal hanging on nearby trees.

Hailstorms also hit many areas of the commune with pellets recorded at up to three centimeters in diameter, which pierced through the roofs of several homes, forcing residents to find shelter at their neighbors’ houses, whose structures were more stable.

Local authorities have supported each damaged residence with VND500,000 (US$22.42) towards temporarily repairing their homes.

Despite its destructive nature, the hailstorm, along with showers in several other districts of Gia Lai on April 18, has cooled off the region for the first time in nearly six months of scorching temperatures.

VNA/Tuoitre