Chinese state media reported Tuesday that at least 11 people lost their lives and hundreds more were hurt after tornadoes tore through a central province in China.
The eastern Hubei province bore the brunt of powerful thunderstorms Monday night, with the severe weather impacting an estimated 14,600 people, according to the official state news agency Xinhua. More than 330 individuals were injured and one person remained unaccounted for. The destruction was extensive — over 20 homes completely collapsed and more than 4,800 additional structures sustained damage.
An EF2 tornado, considered rare for the region, cut through Huanggang city, causing significant damage to buildings. Among the hardest-hit locations were a logistics company and a warehouse construction site, where powerful winds hurled multiple trucks as far as 30 meters — roughly 98 feet — from their original positions, Xinhua reported.
Video shared by Shanghai Daily on the social media platform X appeared to capture the terrifying moment when strong winds forced open glass doors on the ground floor of a building, shattering one of them as people inside screamed.
According to China Weather News, which is operated by the China Meteorological Administration, tornadoes in China are typically documented in southern and coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Jiangsu — making Monday night’s event in Hubei highly unusual.
Meteorological expert Wang Xiaoling explained to the Hubei Daily newspaper that several contributing factors led to the tornadoes, including the remnants of Tropical Storm Maysak, which played a role in the unusual weather that swept through the area.
The destruction did not stop there. In southern China, officials confirmed that four people died in Hengzhou city, with eight others still missing, after Maysak brought record-setting rainfall that caused widespread flooding across the Guangxi region, Xinhua reported.
Authorities evacuated more than 53,000 residents from Hengzhou, while an additional 8,000 people were moved out of Binyang county as floodwaters surged. On Tuesday, Guangxi issued a red alert — the highest level of flood warning available — as river levels climbed up to 7.5 meters, or approximately 24 feet, above established warning thresholds, according to Xinhua.
