Five dead, 33 injured as Tornado hits Southern China

Representational image. Pic/iStock

According to CNN, a Chinese state media, five people have lost their lives and 33 people were injured by the tornado that struck Guangzhou in China.

A city in China, Guangzhou has witnessed tornadoes at level three intensity, just two levels below the highest level of five. In the tornadoes, 141 factories have been damaged but no residential houses collapsed, as per the reports of Xinhua news agency.

A weather station in Liangtian Village, Baiyun District, about 1.7 miles from where the tornado hit, registered a maximum wind gust of 20.6 metres per second, according to CNN, citing Xinhua.

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Around 10 PM in China, the search and rescue operations were ended.

The tornado was caused by multiple days of heavy rains in southern China which led to deadly floods and threatened to upend the lives of tens of millions of people as rescuers rushed to evacuate residents trapped by rising waters.

Guangdong province, an economic powerhouse home to 127 million people, has seen widespread flooding that has pushed over 110,000 people to be relocated, state media reported, citing the local government.

The state media previously reported that at least four people lost their lives in floods in Guangdong.

Since April 16, sustained torrential rains have pounded the Pearl River Delta, China's manufacturing heartland and one of the country's most populated regions, with four weather stations in Guangdong registering record rainfall for April, reported CNN.

Notably, the Pearl River basin is subject to annual flooding from April to September, but the region has faced more intense rainstorms and severe floods in recent years as scientists warn that the climate crisis will amplify extreme weather, making it deadlier and more frequent.

However, tornadoes do not occur as frequently in China as they do in the US, but they do happen.

A peer-reviewed scientific article from 2015 found that China averages fewer than 100 tornadoes per year and that at least 1,772 people have died from tornadoes in the country in the 50 years since 1961.

Moreover, the China Meteorological Agency has warned about heavy rain and strong storms to continue until the end of the month, CNN reported.

(With ANI Inputs)