Photo taken with a mobile phone on May 15, 2021 shows rescue team members walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings after a tornado in Caidian district of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. [Photo/Xinhua]
WUHAN/SUZHOU -- Four people have been confirmed dead and 19 others injured after a tornado hit the city of Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province on Friday, according to local authorities.
Previously, Wuhan, the capital in Central China's Hubei province, reported six deaths and 218 others injured after the tornado on Friday night walloped.
The Suzhou municipal bureau of emergency management said it has verified the casualties in Shengze Town after an investigation on Saturday morning. A total of 84 households and 17 companies sustained damages in the disaster, which also caused power outages, the bureau added.
The tornado, packing winds of 23.9 meters per second, ripped through the Caidian district of Wuhan at 8:39 pm Friday, toppling some construction site sheds and snapping a large number of trees.
According to an initial investigation by authorities in Wuhan Saturday morning, houses of 27 households have collapsed, and those of 130 households were damaged. Two tower cranes and 8,000 square meters of construction site sheds also suffered damage.
A worker of State Grid repairs electricity facility damaged by a tornado in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, May 15, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
The tornado blew down power lines, triggering a power outage that has affected 26,600 households in Wuhan. The local power grid has sent staff to fix the glitches and repair works are still going on.
The municipal government has urged an all-out effort to save lives, assess the losses, and repair water, electricity, gas and communication facilities.
The city has mobilized people to check the safety of public facilities, old residential areas, dilapidated buildings in rural areas and construction sites.
A rescue team member searches for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings after a tornado in Caidian district of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, May 15, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
Rescue team members work at the rubble of collapsed buildings after a tornado in Caidian district of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, May 15, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
A rescue team member works at the rubble of collapsed buildings after a tornado in Caidian district of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, May 15, 2021.
