Guangzhou, China: A tornado kills at least 5 people and injures 33 others in a Chinese city as the region battles deadly floods.

CNN
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At least five people were killed and 33 others injured in a tornado that struck Guangzhou, a city of 19 million in southern China, on Saturday, according to Chinese state media.

Authorities say 141 factory buildings were damaged, but no residential homes collapsed, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. She said the initial assessment placed the hurricane at a level three, two degrees below the maximum level of five.

Guangzhou, about 80 miles (130 km) from Hong Kong, is the capital of Guangdong Province.

The meteorological station in Liangtian Village in Baiyun District, about 1.7 miles from where the typhoon struck, recorded a maximum wind speed of 20.6 meters per second, Xinhua News Agency reported.

By 10 pm local time, search and rescue operations had ended.

The hurricane comes several days after heavy rains hit southern China, leading to deadly floods and threatening to upend the lives of tens of millions of people as rescuers rush to evacuate residents trapped by rising water levels.

State media, citing the local government, reported that Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse with a population of 127 million people, witnessed widespread flooding that forced more than 110,000 people to be displaced.

Earlier this week, state media reported that floods claimed at least four lives in Guangdong.

Since April 16, incessant heavy rains have battered the Pearl River Delta, China's manufacturing heartland and one of the country's most densely populated regions, with four weather stations in Guangdong recording record rainfall for April.

The Pearl River Basin is exposed to annual flooding from April to September, but the region has faced it More severe rainstorms and severe flooding In recent years, scientists have been warning that the climate crisis will make extreme weather events worse, making them deadlier and more frequent.

Although tornadoes do not occur as frequently in China as they do in the United States, they do occur. a A peer-reviewed scientific article from 2015 It found that China averages fewer than 100 tornadoes per year, and that at least 1,772 people have died from tornadoes in the country in the 50 years since 1961.

The Chinese Meteorological Agency warned that heavy rains and strong storms could continue until the end of the month.