China: Cleanup Efforts Commence after Tornado in Guangzhou Kills 5, Injures Several Others

Beijing: Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed  wide devastation of a part of sourn city of Guangzhou after a torno swept through day before, killing five people, injuring dozens of ors and damaging over a hundred buildings.

As businesses and residents began cleaning debris, images showed block upon block of devastation in hardest hit areas with a few clusters of buildings standing amid destruction, a truck overturned on its side and cars crushed by rubble. Some buildings h ir sheet metal roofs torn off.

torno, which knocked out power in area, also injured 33 people on Saturday, officials said.

Guangzhou is capital of Guangdong province and a manufacturing hub near Hong Kong.  torno which struck during an afternoon thunderstorm that also brought hail damaged 141 factory buildings, according to authorities.

y said no homes were destroyed, though a news website under Sourn Media Group reported that some h broken windows.

torno hit several villages in Guangzhou's Baiyun district. In one, packing material known as “pearl cotton” hung from buildings and trees, a report on Sourn Media website said. It blew into compound of a nearby furniture company, where workers took shelter in a private home after metal roof was ripped off ir building, news website reported.

Workers were rolling up material to be carted away for disposal on Sunday.

disaster hit one week after heavy rains and flooding killed at least four people in Guangdong province.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier in month. city, formerly known as Canton, also recently held Canton Fair, a major export and import exhibition that draws buyers from around world.

In September, two tornoes killed 10 people in Jiangsu province in eastern China.