Heavy downpours since Thursday have affected about 42,000 people in the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of central China's Hubei province, local authorities announced on Saturday. Some 66 houses collapsed and another 154 were damaged after the heavy rain hit the prefecture on Thursday. About 1,400 hectares of crops were affected, Xinhua quoted the prefecture government as saying. The direct economic loss is projected to be 15.11 million yuan (2.5 million U.S. dollars). Xianfeng County is worst hit by the downpours where 15,000 people in 11 towns were affected.
