Storms with Typhoon-Like Winds Ravage South China, Killing 7

Rare storms with typhoon-like winds have killed at least seven people in China's southern Jiangxi province since the weekend, three of them blown out of their high-rise apartments in their sleep.
The extreme weather, which began on March 31, has engulfed nine cities including Nanchang and Jiujiang with 93,000 people in 54 counties affected, said the Jiangxi provincial emergency flood control headquarters, Reuters reported.

On Sunday, freak storms led to gusts that ripped door-size windows off frames in two apartments in a high-rise building in Nanchang, the provincial capital. Three people were pulled from their beds through the holes, plunging to their deaths, according to local media reports.

Officials on Wednesday said seven people so far have died across the province and 552 had to be emergency evacuated. They also said 2,751 houses were damaged.

Accompanied by dramatic sheet lightning, pounding rain and hailstones the size of golf balls, the powerful storms - the most severe in more than a decade - also caused 150 million yuan ($21 million) in economic losses, local officials said.