On the afternoon of April 2, Xiangtan County, Xiangtan, Hunan, China was subjected to severe convection weather such as hail, thunderstorms and strong short-term precipitation, with the maximum precipitation registering 89.4 mm, the maximum rain intensity reaching 40.4 mm, and the maximum wind speed up to 28.5 m/s.

Till April 6, 2,747 people in 14 towns and villages in Xiangtan County were affected by severe convection weather. Thanks to the timely warning and proper emergency management, 348 people were transferred in time safe and sound.

On April 2, affected by the severe convection weather, the roof of the villagers' home in Cangchong village of Xiangtan County was blown away by gales. Photoed by OUYANG Zongyun

At 16:20 on April 2, it was the recess time at Shitanba Central Primary School in Xiangtan County. At this time, the wind was howling, dust and debris were flying, a few sounds broke out amid lightning and thunder, and two trees were instantly blown down on the playground.

Affected by the severe convection weather, the roof of some buildings of Shitanba Central Primary School in Zhonglupu Town, Xiangtan County was overturned by strong winds. Photoed by CHEN Zhihua

An hour and a half before the incident, TANG Chun, principal of the school, received the orange warning signal for hail issued by the Xiangtan meteorological station, reminding teachers to heed their safety and patrol the school.

"Hurry back to the classroom!" TANG Chun organized teachers to urge the students back to the classroom shelter, while reporting to the town government. About 10 minutes later, the roof of the teaching building was blown over by strong winds, and the wind speed continued to augment.

A few minutes later, in the event of weakening wind and rain, the rescue team rushed to the scene, made a prompt decision to guide 240 teachers and students of the whole school to evacuate to the outdoor safety area in an orderly manner, and counted the number of students on the scene, soothed the students, and contacted their parents.

At 16:55, all teachers and students left school safely and returned home.

On the afternoon of April 2, thanks to the “call and response” mechanism of the Xiangtan County Meteorological office, departments of emergency management, electricity and others were organized to inspect safety hazards, and informed the township government to broadcast the latest warning and rain information in real time.

On the same day,the County Meteorological Office of successively issued early warning information such as hail, rainstorms, thunderstorms and gales, carried out progressive early warning services, adopted "call and response" mechanism for heavy precipitation, delivered services for towns and villages in heavy precipitation areas, and submitted meteorological service information to the government and relevant departments at the first time, and issued rolling forecast warnings.

Editor: LIU Shuqiao