Strong tornado leaves 5 dead in China

Five people were killed and 33 others injured as a strong tornado hit Guangzhou, the capital city of south China’s Guangdong Province, on Saturday afternoon, local authorities said.

Authorities said the tornado was of level-three intensity, two tiers lower than the highest level of five. An investigation into the damage caused was under way, state news agency Xinhua reported.

In all, 141 factory buildings were damaged, authorities said.

The weather station in Liangtian village in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district, roughly 2.8km (1.7 miles) from the tornado’s “point of occurrence”, registered a maximum wind gust of 20.6 metres per second at around 3pm, Xinhua said.

City authorities had earlier in the day issued thunderstorm, rainstorm, hailstorm and tornado warnings in many districts.

It comes as Guangdong battles record-breaking floods caused by heavy downpours that have left at least four dead and displaced tens of thousands across several cities. At least 10 people have also been reported missing.

More rain is forecast for the province over the next five days, with a high risk of heavy downpours, hail and tornados.

Guangzhou authorities announced on Saturday that the city’s total rainfall for the month had already reached 455.8mm (17.9 inches), the highest for April since 1951.