Two tornadoes wreaked devastation in central China's Hubei province on Monday evening, killing at least 11 people and leaving one missing, according to state media reports on Tuesday. The winds, reaching speeds of up to 149 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour), overturned cars and tore roofs off buildings across the cities of Huangshi, Huanggang, Ezhou, and Xianning.
Details of the tornadoes
Xinhua news agency reported, citing Hubei's emergency management authorities, that the gales measured level 13 on the extended Beaufort wind force scale and lasted over four hours. Wang Xiaoling, an expert at the provincial meteorological bureau, told Hubei Daily that tornadoes are extremely rare in Hubei, a major industrial, automotive manufacturing, and technology hub. The last tornado in the province occurred in May 2021.
Impact and response
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed rescue workers in Huanggang examining a badly damaged truck cab that appeared to have been shredded by corrugated steel torn from the roof of a nearby building. Another clip showed a wrecked white car that had been blown into a lamp post, surrounded by sheets of twisted metal. At least one person was still missing, the report said.
Weather warnings
The National Meteorological Centre warned that northeastern Hubei should brace for further heavy to torrential rain on Tuesday. It also warned of heavy rain for parts of the southwestern Guangxi region, the southern provinces of Guangdong and Hainan, and the more northerly Jilin, Shandong, and Liaoning provinces, among other areas. The Guangxi region, still reeling from Typhoon Maysak, which killed at least six people and left 11 missing over the past few days, should prepare for extremely heavy rain of up to 260 millimeters (10 inches) over the next 24 hours, which could trigger landslides, the forecast added.
Landslide in Gansu
In western China's Gansu province, two people remained missing after a landslide in a mountainous county, state media reported. A total of 33 people were swept away in the early hours of the morning. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "all-out efforts" to rescue those affected by the floods, CCTV reported on Tuesday.
Super Typhoon Bavi approaching
China also faces Super Typhoon Bavi, which is tracking across the Pacific towards Taiwan and forecast to make landfall along China's eastern coast over the weekend. Taiwan expects heavy rain; Super Typhoon Bavi will begin affecting Taiwan from Friday, with the worst of the wind and rain expected later that day and Saturday. Taiwan cabinet Secretary-General Xavier Chang said in a Facebook post that Bavi may bring more than one meter (3.3 feet) of rain to parts of the island, and almost 29,000 military personnel are on stand-by to help with relief efforts. Bavi is expected to weaken slightly as it approaches northern Taiwan, but it may still remain a relatively large typhoon, with strength ranging from the lower end of a strong typhoon to the upper end of a moderate typhoon, the island's weather administration said. The storm packed winds of up to 289 kph (180 mph) as it swept across Guam, Tinian, Saipan, and Rota on Monday.
