At least 11 dead and hundreds injured after tornadoes and storms hit China

At least 11 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after tornadoes hit central China, state media reported on Tuesday.

Thunderstorms battered several parts of eastern China’s Hubei province on Monday night, affecting around 14,600 people, according to state news agency Xinhua.

More than 330 people were injured, and one person remains missing. More than 20 homes collapsed, while a further 4,800 were damaged.

A rare EF2 tornado (defined by wind speeds between 111 and 135mph) also struck Huanggang, damaging buildings across the city.

A logistics company and a warehouse development were among the hardest-hit sites, with powerful winds lifting and throwing several lorries up to 30 metres (98 feet), Xinhua reported.

Also, a video posted by Shanghai Daily on X appeared to show people on the ground floor of a building screaming as high winds blew open the glass doors.

Rescuers conduct work at a tornado-hit logistics park in Huangzhou District of Huanggang City. / Credit: AP

Tornadoes are most commonly recorded in China’s southern and coastal provinces, such as Guangdong and Jiangsu, according to China Weather News, which is run by the China Meteorological Administration.

They are rare in Hubei province.

Meteorological expert Wang Xiaoling told the Hubei Daily that several factors, including the remnants of Tropical Storm Maysak, contributed to the tornadoes that swept through the region on Monday night.

Further south, officials said four people had died in Hengzhou, and eight others remained missing after record-breaking rainfall from Maysak triggered widespread flooding across Guangxi, according to Xinhua.

More than 53,000 people have been evacuated from Hengzhou, while a further 8,000 were forced to leave their homes in Binyang County.

Guangxi issued its highest-level red flood alert on Tuesday after river levels rose to as much as 7.5 metres (24 feet) above warning levels, Xinhua reported.