Eight people died and at least 66 were injured by a thunderstorm that hit central China's Hubei Province on Tuesday.

Strong wind, heavy rain and hail affected 350,000 people in 10 counties of Dangyang City from Monday night, according to a source with the provincial government. About 70 percent of Dangyang residents faced power failure after the grid was badly damaged.

The extreme weather left eight dead in their collapsed homes, and forced the evacuation of 8,327.

The disaster caused 210 million yuan (25.9 million U.S. dollars) in losses, with 10,850 houses and 22,666 hectares of crops damaged.

It destroyed 41 transformers, 162 electrical wiring standards and broke 76 wires, among others. The local grid suffered 5.8 million yuan in losses.

More than 100 emergency workers were summoned from other areas of Hubei to repair the Dangyang grid. Local residents were expected to have power as early as Wednesday evening.

The thunder also cut the water supply and disrupted road traffic. In the worst-hit Yuyang County, communications were interrupted for seven hours.

The rain will continue until Wednesday, said the provincial Meteorological Bureau.

Elsewhere, a 61-year-old woman was killed by lightning in Shanghai on Tuesday, shortly after the local observatory issued a warning.

Yu Jinyun and her husband, Xie Baoren, 62, were struck by a bolt of lightning at 7:55 a.m. while riding a motorbike on a bridge. Yu died instantly while Xie was rushed to hospital.

The Shanghai Observatory issued a lighting warning at 6:46 a.m. and upgraded it at 7:27 p.m.. It also issued a strong wind warning.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2008)