Snow kills 21 in central, east China

BEIJING -- Snow has killed 21 people in central and eastern China since Jan. 2, according to the China National Commission for Disaster Reduction.

Heavy snowfall has damaged houses, agriculture and power facilities in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Chongqing Municipality, it said.

More than 3,700 people have been relocated and 14,000 are in need of emergency assistance, said the commission, noting that over 700 houses had collapsed and nearly 2,800 were damaged.

The weather has affected more than 233,100 hectares of farmland, with more than 8,100 hectares destroyed, causing direct economic losses of 5.55 billion yuan ($854 million).