11 killed, 102 injured by strong winds, thunderstorm in China

The unusual extreme weather swept the Yangtze delta late Friday night with Nantong being one of the hardest-hit cities, Global Times reported.

By 8 am on Saturday, the extreme weather has affected 13,688 people in several cities in Jiangsu, causing direct economic loss of over 16.4 million yuan.

In Nantong, wind speed reached 45.4 meters per second and some regions saw hailstorms with a diameter of up to 3 centimeters. In addition, 3,050 were evacuated as their homes collapsed or severely damaged.

Wu Zhenglong, governor of Jiangsu Province, inspected the provincial emergency response center and checked the disaster relief work on Saturday morning.

A viral video on social media showed a plane parking at the Nantong airport swirled itself due to the strong wind. Airport staff later told the media that there were no injuries or property losses.