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A video has captured the moment a ferocious tornado in south China that killed five people struck a power line.
The tornado ripped through Guangdong province yesterday, leaving 33 injured, 141 factory buildings damaged and countless without power.
The Zengcheng District Meteorological Observatory in Guangzhou issued a tornado alert at 3.23pm local time.
District weather officials also issued an orange rainstorm warning a few minutes earlier with up to 50mm of rain bucketing it down in only three hours.
Massive hail stones, reportedly the size of golf balls, were seen hitting the ground in Guangzhou and Shanwei in eastern Guangdong province.
Peopl suffered head injures as they were hit by the hail.
The moment the tornado hits a powerline in Guangdong province, China (Picture: @News9/Youtube)
Photos posted by Chinese state media today show the devastation left behind in the hardest hit area, with a few clusters of buildings still standing, roofs missing, cars crushed by rubble and a truck lying on its side.
A furniture factory was torn to shred by the tornado, according to the Guangzhou Baiyun District Emergency Command Center.
Authorities said no homes were destroyed though the Sing Tao Daily reported that car and building windows had been shattered and roofs dented.
Animals were also killed during the hailstorm, with one Chinese social media user saying it was not hail ‘but vertical bullets fired’.
‘Is this Guangzhou? Or a Hollywood disaster movie?’ another asked.
In one village packing material known as ‘pearl cotton’ could be seen hanging from buildings and trees.
The tornado struck one week after heavy rains and flooding killed at least four people in Guangdong province.
Debris picked up by the tornado flies through the air (Picture: CCTV13)
A man walks through debris in the aftermath of the tornado in Guangming Village, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (Picture: AP)
An aerial shot of the damage and mess left behind in Guangdong (Picture: CNS/AFP via Getty Images)
In September, two tornadoes killed 10 people in Jiangsu province in eastern China.
On Friday, meanwhile, a tornado wreaked havoc as it blew through the US state of Nebraska.
It ripped homes to pieces and left 10,000 without power in Omaha.
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