A house in Chiến Phố Commune, Hoàng Su Phì District, Hà Giang Province was damaged in a hailstorm on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ GIANG — Hail and strong winds on Wednesday damaged houses, crops and infrastructure in northern provinces including Hà Giang, Lai Châu and Vĩnh Phúc.

In Hà Giang Province, about 810 houses were damaged in districts of Hoàng Su Phì, Xín Mần, Yên Minh, Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc. The winds completely blew off the roofs of 229 houses in Xín Mần District, while in other districts, 139 houses had their roofs damaged. The damage is estimated to total about VNĐ2.2 billion.

Thèn Văn Tiến, an official of Xín Mần Commune, Xín Mần District in Hà Giang Province, said that besides damage to houses, the hail and winds also destroyed crops and damaged roads.

Lù Văn Sanh, residing in Chiến Phố Commune, Hoàng Su Phì District, said his roof was ripped off and two buffaloes were killed by lightning.

In Lai Châu Province, strong gusts and hail lasted for half an hour on Wednesday afternoon, damaging houses and crops in districts of Tân Uyên, Tam Đường, Nậm Nhùn, Mường Tè, Phong Thổ and Lai Châu City.

Vũ Xuân Tình, vice chief secretariat of the office of the province’s Steering Committee for Natural Disasters Prevention, Search and Rescue said that people whose houses were heavily affected by the weather had moved to safer places.

On Thursday, local authorities would review and report damage to deploy assistance.

The hailstorm on Wednesday is reported to be the sixth to hit Lai Châu Province since the beginning of last month.

Meanwhile, in Vĩnh Phúc Province, heavy rain in the last two days helped relieve the drought that has affected the province for the last few months.

In this year’s winter-spring rice crop, the province has cultivated about 30,000 ha of rice. Farms suffered from water shortages as most ponds, lakes and rivers in the province dried up. Local forests, including those in Tam Đảo National Park, were at high risk of fire.

Wednesday’s downpour also caused floods in urban areas of Vĩnh Phúc Province, including the cities of Phúc Yên and Vĩnh Yên.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorology Forecasting, a cold spell would continue bringing rain to northern provinces until Friday.

From now to Sunday (April 26), temperatures in northern and north central provinces will drop to 15-18 degrees Celsius. Some northern mountainous provinces could have temperatures of less than 14 degrees Celsius.

Hà Nội is expected to witness heavy rain and thunderstorms from Thursday afternoon to Friday. Temperatures in the city could drop to about 16-18 degrees Celsius. — VNS