Hailstorms in southwest China's Guizhou Province have affected 30,000 people and damaged many houses as of Saturday, said a local government official.

The hailstorms started on Tuesday morning in Guizhou's Wangmuo County. Huang Qixing, deputy head of the county government, said two houses were toppled and 11,931 were damaged as of Saturday.

A total of 192 head of large livestock were killed and the direct economic losses caused by the hailstorms were estimated at 8.14 million yuan (US$1.19 million), Huang said.

The county government has allocated 600,000 yuan (US$87,847) to fight against the disaster, Huang said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2010)