Four dead after thunderstorms batter Nanchang

Four people died and more than 10 others were injured when severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall struck Nanchang, in East China's Jiangxi province, early Sunday morning, China Central Television reported on Monday.

Around 3 am on Sunday, Nanchang was struck by strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

Many residents posted videos online, with footage showing shattered windows at one home, and shards of glass scattered on the ground.

Earlier on Monday, local media outlets reported that three people fell to their deaths in a residential area on Bayuehu Road in the city's Nanchang county during the extreme weather. The disaster reduction division of the Jiangxi Meteorological Service confirmed the incident, but the cause of the fatalities in Nanchang county remains unknown and is under investigation by the local public security department.

On Monday afternoon, Nanchang's disaster reduction office sent a mobile phone message to residents of the city saying that another severe convective weather process was expected to hit the city from Monday to Saturday.

People were advised to pay attention to meteorological disaster forecasts and take appropriate precautions.

Photographs posted on social media showed uprooted trees in several neighborhoods in Nanchang due to strong winds and heavy rainfall, and air conditioning units that had fallen from buildings. About 1,600 trees were uprooted in Honggutan district.

The heavy rainfall affected residential areas near Xiang Lake and some neighborhoods in Nanchang county the most.

Cao Lei, who lives in the city's Xihu district, said the rainfall there was relatively light and had little impact.

On Monday, the China Meteorological Administration forecast moderate to heavy rainfall for much of the country during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday from Thursday to Saturday.

Over the next 10 days, overcast skies and rainy weather are expected in Southwest China's Guizhou province, Central China's Hubei province, and the provinces of Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui in East China, as well as Shanghai.

Meanwhile, a hydrologist cautioned that due to the impact of extreme weather, this year's flood season, which started on Monday, will feature both droughts and floods, with floods being more widespread.

Hou Aizhong, the chief hydrological forecaster at the Ministry of Water Resources' information center, said that the seven major rivers in China — the Yangtze, Yellow, Haihe, Liaohe, Huaihe, Songhuajiang and Pearl — are likely to experience different levels of flooding, with other regions potentially facing intermittent droughts.

Jiangxi province is situated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze.