The death toll from devastating storms in parts of China rose to 15 on Tuesday, with hundreds more injured and tens of thousands evacuated, state media reported, as President Xi Jinping called for “all-out” rescue efforts.
Thunderstorms and gale-force winds killed at least 11 people and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei, where severe convective weather battered several cities and tornadoes were reported late on Monday, state news agency Xinhua said.
One person remains missing, while 4,800 homes were damaged and another 22 collapsed, according to Xinhua.
The agency said the severe weather was marked by its sudden onset and powerful, short-lived winds.
In the southern region of Guangxi, heavy rain and flooding triggered by Typhoon Maysak killed at least four people, forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 residents and left eight others missing.
Breached dam
Authorities in Nanning, Guangxi’s capital, raised the flood emergency response to its highest level after torrential rain breached a reservoir dam.
Footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV showed muddy floodwaters surging through the collapsed concrete walls of the dam.
Xi urged rescuers to “go all out” in emergency operations and stressed the importance of treating the injured, relocating affected residents and strengthening disaster relief efforts, CCTV reported.
