Following this publication’s reporting of a tornado in Suqian of Jiangsu Province that killed one yesterday, further news has emerged that nearer to the coast, tornado activity soon thereafter took the lives of five more, accompanied by an increased magnitude of associated destruction.
The tornado on which The Nanjinger reported yesterday ripped through a township in Jiangsu’s northern city of Suqian. The extreme convective weather was then to bring devastation later that same evening to Funing County in the city of Yancheng.
By 20:30 on 19 September, rainfall for the previous 3 hours in Lupu and Banhu Towns amounted to 202.7 mm and 171 mm, respectively.
During the storm, five people were seriously injured. All later died after rescue efforts failed. Four others were slightly injured and sent to hospital for treatment with no life-threatening injuries.
According to preliminary statistics, a staggering 5,512 people were affected by the tornado in the general area, while 1,646 houses were damaged, of which 137 collapsed.
Some 1,800 trees were brought down, while fully 199 hectares of crops were damaged. 129 people were required to be relocated.
Elsewhere, both the walls and roof of a nearby 2,000-square-metre pig house collapsed, reports The Paper.
Unlike the tornado featured yesterday which was an EF2 event, the strike in Yancheng attained EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
The Scale defines EF3 tornados as having wind speeds of between 218 and 266 km/h. They can cause roofs and outside walls to be blown away, and any or all trees in the tornado’s path to be uprooted and lofted into the air. Two-story homes are likely to have their second floor destroyed, while high-rise buildings will have windows blown out. Metal shed-like buildings, such as factories, may be completely destroyed; buses may be uplifted and even trains rolled onto their sides.
