Officials in Phayao and Lampang provinces are distributing roof tiles to villagers whose houses were damaged in a hailstorm on Sunday night.

Sanan Yamongkol, president of Phu Sang tambon administration organisation, said villagers in his locality need about 80,000 new roof tiles to replace damaged ones. His organisation can provide about 3,000 tiles, while the provincial hall is supplying the rest.

Inspections of damaged crops were also being made to assess what further assistance was needed.

Officials began distributing new roof tiles in Soem Ngam district of Lampang province. Hailstones damaged the roofs of about 100 houses in 10 villages there. Several families were forced to stay with relatives in other villages because their roofs were badly damaged.

Hailstorms also caused blackouts in several northern provinces. Soem Ngam district was worst-hit.

Chatchai Promlert, director-general of Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said the hailstorm caused damages to a total of 12,588 houses in 22 districts in five provinces including Lampang, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Phayao.

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