The death toll from severe storms in China has risen to 15, with hundreds injured and tens of thousands evacuated, state media reported on Tuesday. Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged “all out” efforts to rescue those affected by the extreme weather, which brought tornadoes, landslides, and flooding to several provinces.
Thunderstorms and gale-force winds killed at least 11 people and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei, where “severe convective weather” hit cities. State news agency Xinhua reported that 4,800 houses had been damaged and 22 more collapsed, describing the episode as having a “sudden onset and intense, short-duration winds”.
In the southern region of Guangxi, heavy rains and severe flooding from Typhoon Maysak killed at least four people, with at least 50,000 evacuated and eight still missing. Officials in Nanning, the regional capital, raised the flood control emergency response to the highest level after torrential rain breached dams. Dramatic video showed muddy water rushing past the crumbled concrete walls of a dam.
In a separate incident, a landslide in a village in the north-western province of Gansu buried 33 people on Tuesday morning. CCTV reported that 17 had been successfully rescued, with local authorities making “every effort” to search for those still trapped and guard against secondary disasters.
Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in summer, and scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as global temperatures rise. At least 22 people were killed in China in May after record-breaking rainfall hit central and southern regions.
