Doden bij tornado in Chinese miljoenenstad Guangzhou

quote:

Vijf doden en 33 gewonden door tornado in het zuiden van China

Vijf bewoners van de Zuid-Chinese metropool Guangzhou zijn zaterdag omgekomen door een tornado. Nog eens 33 personen raakten gewond, meldt persbureau Xinhua zondag.
Volgens een voorlopige beoordeling had de tornado een intensiteit van niveau drie op een schaal van vijf. De storm beschadigde zo'n 140 fabrieksgebouwen, maar woningen bleven voor zover bekend gespaard.

De reddingswerkzaamheden zijn al grotendeels voltooid in de provinciehoofdstad die achttien miljoen inwoners telt. De stad geldt als een van de belangrijkste economische centra van China.

Een week geleden werden Guangzhou en de omliggende provincie Guangdong getroffen door stortregens. Zeker vier mensen kwamen om en 100.000 mensen moesten worden geëvacueerd.

quote:

Multi-vortex tornado strikes China’s Guangzhou megacity, leaving 5 fatalities, 141 buildings damaged

A destructive multi-vortex tornado, accompanied by heavy rain and large hail up to 12 cm (4.72 inches) in diameter, struck the Guangzhou megacity (population 18.6 million) at approximately 15:00 LT on April 27, 2024, leaving at least five people dead, 33 injured and 141 commercial building damaged. Guangzhou is located in south China’s Guangdong province and is one of the country’s three largest cities.

The Guangzhou Meteorological Observatory confirmed an afternoon sighting of a tornado around 15:05 LT in the Zhongluotan town of Baiyun District, following initial reports by local citizens.

“The Baiyun Zhongluotan region displayed distinct tornado characteristics in radar echo and wind field maps, raising alarms among weather officials,” forecasters at the observatory said.

The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying the tornado exhibited level-three intensity on a five-level scale and traveled a distance of 1 km (0.62 miles), focusing its destruction on the industrial areas.

Eric Wang, a Shanghai-based extreme weather enthusiast, captured the severity of the situation, stating, “Large tornado moved into Guangzhou metropolitan hrs ago… intense power flashes can be seen everywhere.”

“This is as bad as it can get…” he later added. “Total destruction near the industrial area that took a direct hit from the Guangzhou tornado this afternoon, houses collapsed, and power poles snapped…Today will be remembered forever.”

Following the initial tornado sighting, the Huangpu District Meteorological Observatory issued a tornado warning at 15:13 LT, forecasting potential tornado occurrences within the next hour in various parts of the city including Jiufu Street, Longhu Street, Xinlong Town, and Yonghe Street.

The Zengcheng District Meteorological Observatory also issued warnings for the central and southern parts of the district, with wind gusts reaching levels 11 to 12 on the Beaufort scale. In addition to the tornado alerts, there were orange alerts for heavy rain expected to exceed 50 mm (1.97 inches) and severe thunderstorms.

By 15:32, the Guangzhou Central Meteorological Observatory had issued an additional orange alert for strong thunderstorms in the Tianhe and Yuexiu districts.

The tornadoes were accompanied by severe rainfall and hail up to 10 and 12 cm (3.9 – 4.7 inches) in diameter.

Emergency response units, including the city’s emergency management, weather, fire, waterworks, and health departments, were mobilized and rescue operations were largely completed by 22:00 LT, Xinhua reported.

At least 5 people were killed, 33 injured and 141 factory buildings damaged.