Packing winds of 110 kilometres per hour, the freak storm on Wednesday night raked an area encompassing 62 different towns in the northeast corner of Henan province near the city of Shangqiu, Xinhua news agency said.

The storm resulted in up to 258 million yuan (S$56 million) in direct agricultural and economic losses and caused power and water supply cuts in some areas, it added.

The report gave no other details. -- AFP