A tornado that tore through the economic hub of Guangzhou in southern China on Saturday killed five people and damaged dozens of industrial buildings.
The tornado struck around 3 p.m. and injured 33 other people as it hit Baiyun district in the city’s northern suburbs, the local government said. It lasted about four minutes. Hail, some with a diameter of about 2 inches, also fell on parts of the city.
Videos shared by official Chinese media showed transmission towers and power lines lighting up and debris swirling in the air, against the backdrop of a giant funnel that had darkened the mid-afternoon sky.
Guangzhou, a sprawling city of 19 million people and a manufacturing and technology hub, has been hit this month by heavy spring downpours. Flooding in Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, had already caused tens of thousands of people to evacuate last week.
The flow of warm, humid air from the South China Sea had caused a “large amount of unstable energy” to accumulate near the ground, according to the Guangzhou government.
Officials said a total of 141 industrial buildings were damaged by the tornado and recent rains. Wind speed had peaked at approximately 46 miles per hour.
Search and rescue efforts concluded on Saturday afternoon, state media reported. But officials warned that torrential rain, strong winds and lightning were likely to continue in Guangzhou in the coming days, as China prepares for a five-day Labor Day holiday starting Wednesday.
A video shared by the Guangzhou government reminded residents not to go outdoors in heavy hail and, if necessary, to wear helmets.
The brown waters of the Pearl River flow through the heart of Guangzhou, much of which is in very low-lying areas and has a long history of flooding.
The city has made great efforts in recent decades to improve its resilience to flooding that has long accompanied the annual arrival of strong storms in late spring.
City regulations in recent years have required that new apartment buildings have shops, not apartments, on the ground floor. The goal is to minimize the risk to human life during flooding.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier this month. The city recently held the Canton Fair, a major trade exhibition.
Keith Bradsher contributed with reports, and Amy Chang-Chien contributed research