BEIJING, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Heavy rains have caused chaos in China's eastern province of Shandong with about 2.4 million people affected by high winds and storms, local media said on Tuesday.

The downpours, which began on May 9, have already destroyed 700 homes and damaged almost 1,400. Some 520 people have been evacuated from the worst-affected areas.

The damage has been estimated at around 760 million yuan ($111.4 million).

There are no reports of casualties.

In February the eastern part of China was hit by the country's worst drought in 50 years.