If you thought the US had a lock on dangerous, life-threatening tornadoes, think again – China just experienced an intense tornado last week that ripped through the province of Liaoning, killing six people and injuring 190.
This is only one of many “extreme weather” incidence China has seen this year, showing that we’re not alone in the US suffering. Government officials say that these events are directly linked to climate change.
If you’re surprised to hear about a tornado outside of North America, don’t feel bad! It’s pretty rare. In the US, we can expect to see about 1,000 tornadoes a year, depending on how Mother Nature is feeling towards us. That makes us #1 for all tornado-related activity in the world.
Canada is a distant second, and they see about 100 tornadoes a year, mostly in areas close to the US border. All other countries combined only see about 100-200 tornadoes a year. The exception to the US being first is the UK, which technically has a higher rate than any other country if you consider the land size. However, UK tornadoes are generally very weak and don’t do a ton of damage. “Show tornadoes”, if you will.
Liaoning is the smallest, but most populated province, in the northeastern part of China. To give you an idea of where it is on a map, to drive from Beijing to the center of Liaoning would take you about 7 and a half hours, driving North East.
The tornado ripped through central areas at a speed about 23 meters per second or just over 51 miles per hour. Locals caught some of the action on camera, showing impressive amounts of devastation. Cars were thrown, buildings slid from foundations, and trees were leveled.
Areas like this don’t have the tornado preparedness that the central US does. While tornadoes are not completely uncommon, they are very rare, and building code is simply not up to handle such a force.
The tornado was on the ground for a total of 15 minutes, starting in Kaiyuan city, and it damaged an estimated 3,600 homes that were in its path, affecting over 9,500 residents. Access to electricity and water to the most heavily damaged areas were also affected.
Despite being caught off guard by the storm, the government acted quickly, issuing a Level 2 emergency response and getting people on site immediately. Over 200 people were rescued from damaged buildings, with a loss of just 6 lives. Given how unprepared residents were, it could have been so much worse.
There’s no official word from China on the extent of the damage or how much it will cost to repair the homes, but there is no doubt that there will be an extensive cleanup ahead of the town.
