Play

The last thing that visitors at a mall are likely to worry about is being swept away by floods – their foremost concerns are usually whether they’ll find something they like or have the money to buy it.

But shoppers in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province in Eastern China, had to contend with water gushing through the Ginza shopping centre after a tornado, accompanied by heavy rains, lashed parts of the country.

In this recent footage from the shopping centre, the torrent can be seen taking away debris and furniture as stunned shoppers clutch one another to avoid being swept away.

Known as the “plum rains”, China’s wet season often sees severe weather conditions between end May and July.

Southern China has also witnessed severe flooding, which has killed 22 people so far and forced thousands to evacuate.

On Thursday, the eastern province of Jiangsu was hit by the worst tornado in half a century in China, with winds of up to 125 km/h. The storm killed 98 people and injured hundreds.

"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows, a local resident said to BBC. “I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows on it torn away."