※  Severe hailstorms batter China's Guizhou

Several hailstorms battered southwestern China's Guizhou Province during April of 2012, affecting the livelihood of almost 120,000 rural residents, and forcing the evacuation of the rural province’s 7,893 people.

The hailstones, as large as 5 cm in diameter, destroyed about 4,500 hectares of crops and damaged more than 2,800 houses, Power supplies and telecommunication networks also got disrupted.

Local authorities earmarked special funds for disaster relief and dispatched teams to oversee the relief operations in those disaster-stricken areas. [Full story]