BEIRUT, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Some 70,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, including 40,000 children, came under threat as their shelters were battered by a lasting storm that began on Sunday, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 361 sites were hit and 11,000 Syrians heavily affected till Wednesday, according to a UNHCR report released on Thursday.

UNHCR Representative in Lebanon Mireille Girard was quoted by the National News Agency as saying that it is very important to secure shelters for these refugees before their tents get flooded again.

Volunteers were pumping water from some refugee settlements in the eastern part of the country. They also distributed rubber boots, blankets and other materials to the Syrian refugees.

Girard said that draining the flood water out of the camps would be of little use as new storms might cause flooding again.

She recommended building better drainage systems.

An eight-year-old refugee girl was killed by flooding caused by the storm.