BEIJING –
Aerial photographs published by Chinese state media on Sunday showed widespread devastation in part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado ripped through the previous day, killing five people, injuring dozens more and damaging more than 140 buildings.
As businesses and residents began clearing debris, images showed block after block of devastation in the hardest-hit areas, with a few clusters of buildings amid the destruction, a truck flipped on its side and cars crushed by debris. The tin roofs of some buildings were torn off.
Saturday’s tornado also injured 33 people and left the area without power. The tornado, which struck during an afternoon storm that also brought hail, damaged 141 factory buildings, according to authorities.
Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province and a manufacturing center near Hong Kong.
They said no homes were destroyed, although a Southern Media Group news website reported that some had broken windows.
This photo provided Sunday by Chinese state media shows the widespread devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado ripped through the previous day, killing and injuring dozens of people and damaging more than 100 buildings. (Deng Hua/Xinhua via AP)
The tornado hit several villages in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district. In one of them, packaging material known as “pearl cotton” was hanging from buildings and trees, according to a report on the website Southern Media. It exploded on the grounds of a nearby furniture company, where workers took shelter in a private home after the metal roof was ripped off their building, the news website reported.
Workers were rolling up the material for transport and disposal on Sunday.
The disaster came a week after heavy rain and flooding killed at least four people in Guangdong province.
In this photo provided by Chinese news agency of China, on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Deng Hua/Xinhua via AP)
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier this month. The city, formerly known as Canton, also recently held the Canton Fair, a major export and import exhibition that attracts buyers from all over the world.
In September, two tornadoes killed 10 people in eastern China’s Jiangsu province.