Huangshi, China. Two tornadoes killed at least 11 people in central China’s Hubei province and caused widespread damage on Monday evening, with winds of up to 149 kph overturning cars and ripping roofs from buildings. State media reported that at least one person remained missing.
Storm damage in Hubei
Over four hours on Monday evening, gales measuring level 13 on the extended Beaufort wind force scale swept across the cities of Huangshi, Huanggang, Ezhou and Xianning, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Hubei’s emergency management authorities.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed rescue workers in Huanggang inspecting a badly damaged truck cab that appeared to have been shredded by corrugated steel torn from the roof of a nearby building. Another clip showed a wrecked white car that had been blown into a lamp post and surrounded by twisted sheets of metal.
Rare tornadoes in the province
Tornadoes are extremely rare in Hubei, a major industrial, automotive manufacturing and technology hub, Wang Xiaoling, an expert at the provincial meteorological bureau, told Hubei Daily. The last tornado in the province was in May 2021.
Warnings for more severe weather
The National Meteorological Centre said northeastern Hubei should brace for further heavy to torrential rain on Tuesday.
It also warned of heavy rain in parts of the southwestern Guangxi region, the southern provinces of Guangdong and Hainan, and the more northerly provinces of Jilin, Shandong and Liaoning, among other areas.
Impact in other regions
The Guangxi region, still affected by Typhoon Maysak, should prepare for extremely heavy rain of up to 260 mm over the next 24 hours, which the forecast said could trigger landslides. State media said the storm had killed at least four people in the regional capital Nanning over the past few days.
In Gansu province in western China, 16 people remained missing after a landslide in a mountainous county, according to state media. A total of 33 people were swept away in the early hours of the morning.
Broader weather risks
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is becoming increasingly exposed to extreme weather events that experts attribute to climate change.
Torrential rain, scorching summer heat and gale-force winds cause tens of billions of dollars in economic losses annually, disrupting industry and destroying crops.
