A storm that battered swathes of Jiangsu province in Eastern China with some of the highest winds ever recorded has left a city with 11 dead and over 100 injured, just as the nation was settling down to enjoy the extended May Day holiday.
It was the period between 18:00 and 20:00 on Friday, 30 April, that saw the full force of the storm hit many parts of Nantong City. Large trees were felled, crushing cars like tin cans, while solar-powered water heaters were hurled from rooftops. Several parts of Nantong were hit by hail stones with a diameter of as much as three centimetres.
Many of the fatalities were the result of buildings collapsing and trees being felled. But the death toll may yet rise higher.
In the Yangtze River off Nantong, the fishing vessel, Suhaimen Yu 01728, capsized, throwing 11 people into the waters. Two were quickly rescued, while the fate of the others remained unreported at time of writing.
On land, in the Tongzhou Bay part of Nantong, winds gusted to 172 kilometres per hour, equating to gale-force 15 on the extended Beaufort Scale employed only in mainland China and Taiwan, areas often affected by typhoons. Other parts of the city endured winds in excess of gale-force 12, defined as a hurricane.
Representatives of the Jiangsu Meteorological Observatory revealed to the media that the extreme climatic conditions were the result of a northeast cold vortex. While most parts of Jiangsu were affected, Nantong bore the brunt for being located along the River coast, reports local media.
The Nanjinger spoke with Ronald Paredes, a Venezuelan living in Nantong. “It was horrendous!”, he said. “We live on the 34th floor with a single glass panel panoramic window that oversees the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge and the glass was literally waving like a curtain.
“We sheltered in the room because at one point I was expecting the glass to shatter or blow away entirely.”
More drama unfolded at Nantong Xingdong International Airport, where a parked aircraft was another victim of the severe storm.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 operated by Donghai Airlines, parked on the airport apron, can be seen to spin around at 18:31 on Friday, in video footage released by The Paper. The airline produced a statement to say that the aircraft was properly secured, countering online rumors that its parking brake had not been applied, prompting the spin.
In addition to the 11 fatalities, 102 injuries were reported, while a total of 3,050 people in Nantong were evacuated and resettled, most commonly on account of trees and telegraph poles falling on residential dwellings.
Elsewhere in Jiangsu Province, the city of Huai’an recorded winds of over 130 kilometres per hour, the highest since records began.
