A billboard is seen twisted on June 4, 2009 by a strong storm Wednesday night in Shangqiu city of central China's Henan province.

At least 22 people are dead and 117 are injured after a storm swept central China's Henan and eastern Anhui provinces.

Gales, hailstones and heavy rain whipped Henan's Shangqiu, Kaifeng and Jiyuan cities and Anhui's Suzhou, Bozhou and Huaibei cities Wednesday night, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The storm began around 8 p.m. Wednesday and lasted 50 minutes, with winds of up to 108 km per hour, the publicity apartment of Shangqiu said.

Eighteen of the fatalities were reported in Shangqiu, the worst-hit area, two in Kaifeng, and two in Jiyuan.

Most of the victims were hit by falling houses or trees, two were hit by lightning, and 81 were injured in Henan alone, it said.

About 200,000 hectares of cropland suffered damages and water and power supply were cut off in some areas, incurring about 1.449 billion yuan (212 million U.S. dollars) in economic losses in Shangqiu alone.

Henan provincial government had allocated relief funds of 3 million yuan (439,010 U.S. dollars) and Shangqiu municipal government 1 million yuan for disaster relief.

As of 6 p.m, about 3.47 million people had been affected by power and water supply stoppages or damage to their homes, 1,546 were evacuated, 9,856 houses collapsed, and more than 40,000 houses damaged in the two provinces, according to the ministry's report.

The ministry had sent a team to Henan to help with disaster relief.