BEIJING: At least eight people were killed after thunderstorms battered central China’s Hubei Province, state media said on Tuesday (Jul 7), as forecasters warned of more torrential rain across various parts of the country that are home to around 200 million people.
Over four hours on Monday evening, winds of up to 149kmh lashed the cities of Huangshi, Huanggang, Ezhou and Xianning, Xinhua reported, citing Hubei’s emergency management.
Multiple areas in Hubei province experienced “severe convective weather” on Monday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
“Thunderstorms and strong winds swept” through cities including Huangshi and Huanggang, killing eight people, it added.
Tornadoes were reported in some areas, and one person is missing.
The “severe weather” had injured 275 people in Huanggang’s Huangzhou district as of Tuesday morning, state news agency Xinhua reported, without giving details of their severity.
Authorities also evacuated 408 residents to safe areas, it added.
“Rescue and relief efforts are underway,” Xinhua said.
The National Meteorological Centre said the southeastern region of Guangxi and eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong should brace for extremely heavy rain of up to 260mm over the next 24 hours, which can trigger landslides, with other areas in China’s northeast and south expecting tornadoes.
Hubei and Shandong are among China’s key agricultural provinces, with the heavy rain raising concerns about damage to corn, peanuts and vegetable crops that are harvested later in the season than wheat.
Growing climate-driven weather extremes threaten tens of billions of dollars in annual economic losses in China, with recent floods swamping cities, disrupting industry and damaging crops. Meteorologists attribute the harsh conditions to climate change.
China is also on alert for Super Typhoon Bavi, which is making its way across the Pacific Ocean towards Taiwan.
The United States National Weather Service said it was packing winds of up to 290kmh as it made its way across Guam, Tinian, Saipan and Rota on Monday.
Heavy rains and severe flooding from Typhoon Maysak killed at least two people in the southern region of Guangxi, and prompted authorities to evacuate at least 48,000 people as of Monday evening.
Officials in Nanning, Guangxi’s capital, raised the flood control emergency response to the highest level after torrential rain breached dams.
Rain caused the walls of a reservoir dam to burst, with dramatic video shared by CCTV showing a torrent of muddy water rushing the crumbled concrete.
Homes and cars elsewhere in the region were partially submerged, it showed.
Rescue workers were seen wearing life vests and helmets, while others were on inflatable boats searching for people.
