A 7-minute hailstorm rained down Sa Pa district in the northernmountainous province of Lao Cai early in the morning of April 3, makingit the sixth hitting the province over the last eight days.

It was reported that hail was light and caused no serious damage in the locality.

Earlier in the night of April 2, two successive hailstorms withwhirlwinds struck the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau.

Nguyen Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the provincialCentre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said that both hailstormsonly swept through the province’s Lai Chau town, and the size of stonesranges from 15mm to 20mm.

Statistics from the office of theprovincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention show that,from April 1 to 3, hailstorms and whirlwinds wreaked havoc on propertyand crops across the province.

In Sin Ho district alone, the extreme weather damaged 600 rubber trees and blew off roofs of more than 100 houses.

Roofsof over 30 houses and a number of classrooms in Nam Khao, Mu Ca andMuong Te communes, Muong Te district were also destroyed.

Six houses in Tan Hong and Quyet Thang wards of Lai Chau town suffered from damage.

The flood and storm prevention steering committees of the province’sdistricts and Lai Chau town have sent officials to inspect, update thedamage and give guidance to residents to overcome the disasteraftermaths.

On April 3, a 30-minute torrential rain, accompaniedby whirlwind, killed one person and injured another in Nam Can commune,Ky Son district, in central Nghe An province.

It took away roofs of 15 houses and ruined crops in the commune.

Earlier, on March 30, hails rained down on Luu Kien commune in the province, damaging 84 houses and crops.-VNA