Media: Beijing Tornado affects 20,000

[Grant]

BEIJING - A tornado in China tore up 650 houses in just five minutes and damaged nearly 1000, state media said on Sunday, but only one person died.

The tornado touched down in the eastern province of Anhui on Saturday, causing 18.5 million yuan ($3.6 million) in losses.

Forty-five people, including eight seriously wounded, were taken to hospital after the tornado hit in Lingbi county, Xinhua news agency said.
One 76-year-old villager died on the way to hospital.

More than 20,000 people were "affected" by the tornado and 950 were relocated, Xinhua said.

China tornado wrecks 650 homes, kills just one person | International | Reuters

[Dollsworth]

They really are getting extremes this year

[TokWW]

Or is the Western Publicity mill more active and vocal? We would never know... still so sad so many people affected with what we all take for granted in NZ with very few damaging tornados ever seen - NP ones last year were first for a while.

[ATO2]

The Chinese government appears to be more forthcoming about natural disasters than the earlier regimes, do you think?

[TokWW]

China is now a very dominant player in world export and consumption markets - energy production, resource consumption, waste creation, and now one of the world's largest exporters.

Also, with the Olympics coming up, they are after as much sympathy and publicity as they can get. Apart from that, the international level of communications has had to be expanded and links opened for both trade and for the Olympics, so yes, this latest governmental regimen has opened the news floodgates...

[ATO2]

Once the media get in, they don't usually get out in a hurry!