(CCTV)
Extreme weather in the form of severe hail, strong winds and heavy rainfall hit areas all across southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Tuesday and Wednesday.
Hailstones passed through Tiandeng County injuring 23 people and destroying 5,371 rooms while damaging some 1870 hectares of crops Wednesday.
The hail first started falling around 16:30 and many hailstones measured a diameter of three centimeters. It was seen in 13 towns throughout the county.
“The hails, as big as eggs, fell around 16:30. My grandma who is over 70 years old said she had never seen such big hailstones,” said Huang Gaoming, a villager in Xiaoshan Town.
Wei Changsheng, another villager living in the region, got hit by hailstones while herding his cow, leaving a laceration on the top of his head.
Hail fell through the county a second time around 19:00 that evening, though with a smaller diameter of about two centimeters.
The county of Quanzhou was also hit hard.
Crops and many tile-roofed houses were damaged during the storm. One tree with a diameter nearing two meters was also toppled Thursday morning. No deaths were reported.
According to Wang Binggu, a resident of Xiale Village, the storm persisted in the town of Shitang in the Quanzhou County for days, and the storm on Wednesday night continued for several hours. At around 03:00, the tall tree fell down on the rooftop of her house.
The tree was at least 200 years old with a diameter close to two meters and the trunk climbing 30 meters in height. The weight of the tree is estimated to exceed ten tons. Due to its age, the trunk was hollowed inside and the tree was toppled by the severe storm.
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