CHANGSHA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Over 720,000 people have been affected by freezing rain and snow in central China's Hunan Province, local authorities said Wednesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of 724,100 residents in Hunan have been affected by the cold wave and over 3,900 people were relocated. About 38,000 people are still in need of living assistance, according to the provincial emergency management department.

The rain and snow have caused 122 houses to collapse and damaged 54,280 hectares of crops, causing a direct economic loss of over 560 million yuan (81.7 million U.S. dollars), the department said.

Since December 2018, local authorities have allocated 37,000 quilts and 27,000 cotton coats to the affected. Currently, a total of 237.6 million yuan of relief funds are being distributed to the affected residents.