Aerial photo shows destroyed and damaged buildings in an area affected by a tornado that hit Guangzhou, in South China’s Guangdong province. | CNS/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY
At least five people were killed and 33 injured after a tornado hit the Chinese city of Guangzhou on Saturday, state media reported. China’s official news agency, Xinhua, said the tornado struck the capital of southern Guangdong province at around 3pm local time.
The weather has been extreme these days in the industrial heart of the country. Guangdong, China’s most populous province, is home to 127 million people and thousands of factories that fuel the country’s export sector. In recent days, the region has been hit by violent storms.
Some 141 factories were damaged, but no houses collapsed, Xinhua reported. Images published by state media showed dark skies in the middle of the day. Videos on social media showed damaged cars and uprooted trees.
Earlier this week, torrential rains in Guangdong caused severe flooding, leaving four people dead. According to state media, it was the worst flooding some parts of the province had experienced since the 1950s.
Tornadoes are not uncommon in China. In September, 10 people died after a tornado hit Suqian, Jiangsu province, in the east of the country. In 2021, two tornadoes hit the country in one day, killing 12 people, including eight in Wuhan.
A preliminary investigation by the provincial meteorological department determined that the tornado had an intensity level of three – two levels below the highest intensity level of five – and that it traveled approximately one kilometer. First responders from the city’s emergency management, weather, fire, water and health departments, as well as local residents, were immediately dispatched to the scene after the tornado struck.
Tornadoes are extreme and destructive meteorological phenomena characterized by intensely rotating columns of air that extend from the base of a storm to the Earth’s surface. These violent whirlpools are known for their devastating capacity, capable of causing great destruction in seconds to minutes.
MetSul Meteorologia is on WhatsApp channels. Subscribe here to access the channel in the messaging app and receive forecasts, alerts and information about the most important events in the weather and climate in Brazil and around the world, with exclusive data and information from our team of meteorologists.
