Typhoon ravages southern China, killing 7 people and blowing many away

A rare typhoon storm has killed at least seven people in southern China’s Jiangxi province since the weekend, including three who were blown out of high-rise apartments in their sleep.

The Jiangxi Provincial Flood Control Emergency Headquarters stated that the extreme weather that began on March 31 has swept through nine cities including Nanchang and Jiujiang, affected 54 counties, and affected 93,000 people.

On Sunday, a freak storm unleashed gusty winds that tore windows the size of two apartment doors from their frames in a high-rise building in the provincial capital Nanchang. Three people were pulled from their beds in the hole and fell to their deaths, local media reported.

Officials said Wednesday that seven people have died so far in the province and 552 people had to be evacuated. They also said 2,751 homes were damaged.

The worst storm in more than a decade was accompanied by violent patch lightning, torrential rain and golf ball-sized hail, and caused 150 million yuan ($21 million) in economic losses, local officials said.

The China Meteorological Administration has issued a strong wind warning, and the local wind level can reach Category 12, which is equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

Winds of this intensity are common when typhoons (called hurricanes in China and other parts of East Asia) make landfall, but are rare in inland areas such as inland Jiangxi.

China’s National Meteorological Administration maintained the highest orange warning for severe convective weather in many areas of southeastern China as strong winds, hail and thunderstorms continued into Wednesday.

The weather bureau on Tuesday issued the first orange alert for severe convective weather since 2013, state media reported.

China has established a three-level, color-coded weather warning system for severe convective weather, with orange representing the most severe warning, followed by yellow and blue.