A view shows a tornado in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, released on September 19, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from social media video. (Video obtained by Reuters/via REUTERS)
BEIJING – Chinese weather officials stepped up warnings about heavy rain and strong winds in several regions, state media said on Wednesday, a day after a violent tornado wreaked havoc in the eastern province of Jiangsu, killing 10 people.
The latest incident in weeks of destructive and deadly weather spurred authorities to call for vigilance against strong winds in coastal areas near the Yellow Sea off Jiangsu.
Tuesday’s tornado was brief but fierce, with social media images showing overturned cars, downed power lines and flying debris, much of which littered the streets of Suqian, a city in the north of the province.
“I was at the door and witnessed the wind, solar energy devices, and trees flying in the air,” wrote one user of popular social media platform Weibo. “For those two minutes, I was dumbfounded.”
Broadcaster CCTV said two areas in the province were affected – Suqian and Yancheng. Five people were killed and four severely injured when the tornado suddenly hit a densely-populated area at 5:20 p.m. (2120 GMT) in Suqian, damaging 1,646 homes and leaving acres of crops devastated.
The tornado then ripped through Yancheng, killing five more and injuring four others, CCTV said.
Weather warnings also went out on Wednesday for the southwestern region of Chongqing, several areas in southwestern Guizhou, southern Hunan, eastern Anhui and central Hubei.
Torrential rain recently lashed China’s southeast, causing massive evacuations, landslides and deaths in the wake of unrelenting storms brought by the remnants of Typhoon Haikui.