Three killed after high winds pull them out of their apartments in China

CNN
 — 

Three people died after typhoon-like winds pulled them out through their apartment windows in southern China, as extreme weather battered the region over the past week.

A total of seven people had died in Jiangxi province since the exceptionally strong winds began on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday. More than 5,400 houses were damaged and 313,000 people affected, of whom about 1,600 had to be evacuated to safety, it added.

The Chinese meteorological authority issued an orange alert – the highest on its three-tier warning system – on Tuesday, the first since 2013, according to the state-run Global Times.

Four deaths and at least 10 injuries were reported in the provincial capital Nanchang, the hardest-hit city, when severe thunderstorms and heavy rains hit on Sunday, according to CCTV.

Among them were a woman in her 60s and her 11-year-old grandson, yanked from their apartment windows by strong wind together with their mattresses, according to CCTV citing media reports.

A 60-year-old woman from the same building was also swept out of the window by extreme wind. All three were confirmed dead, the state broadcaster reported.

One weather station picked up a wind speed exceeding the highest level of 12, equivalent to a Category I hurricane, according to state media, while 29 others detected level 10 and 11 winds.

Air conditioners were blown out of high-rises in the city, while more than 2,000 trees were toppled, state media said.

China has been hit by a series of extreme weather events in recent years.

Last year was its hottest on record as it grappled with scorching heat waves that authorities said had arrived earlier and been more widespread and extreme than in previous years.

At the other end of the scale, the country recorded its lowest ever temperature last year on January 22, when the town of Jintao in northeastern Heilongjiang province recorded –53 degrees Celsius (-63.4 degrees Fahrenheit).