In less than 30 minutes, scores of people were struck by the egg-shaped hailstones. Telecommunications, electricity and water supplies were cut temporarily, and traffic snarled. A number of homes near a gas station were destroyed.

Service hotlines for power, telecommunications and weather received thousands of calls in the wake of the disaster. The mayor's hotline was jammed with complaints.

The city's deputy mayor Yao Daixian told Xinhua on Saturday that he did not expect such severe damage. "It's really a tough challenge to the government's ability to deal with an emergency," he said, adding that he had demanded stricter housing standards and a higher disaster alert.

By Saturday morning, city departments had not yet finished clearing up and the streets were still covered with broken tree trunks and fallen leaves.

Pang Tianhe, vice director of the provincial meteorological bureau, said the government should establish an effective system for early warning and disaster prevention.

Friday's provincial weather forecast failed to point out clearly where the storm would strike. And the forecast did not mention possible hailstones at all. Local residents were unprepared when the storm suddenly hit the city.

Meanwhile, provincial weather service sources said although they did release the latest information an hour before the storm, it failed to reach the public.

Gu Wanlong, station director, explained it was hard to accurately predict when and where such calamitous weather would happen with limited equipment.

He admitted that if the public had been warned, casualties and traffic accidents could have been avoided or reduced.

In Zhoukou, another city in the province, such information as sudden weather changes is broadcast through a network of beepers.

Pang hoped that the weather service would seek more channels for disaster prevention. In the meantime, the government should shoulder the job and the public should also become more weather conscious, he added.

(eastday.com July 22, 2002)