Typhoon Maysak Unleashes Rare China Tornadoes and Catastrophic Floods Across Multiple Provinces

Typhoon Maysak has devastated central and southern China with rare tornadoes and flash flooding that has killed at least 17 people, displaced tens of thousands of residents, and triggered nationwide rescue operations ordered by President Xi Jinping. The storm system triggered unprecedented severe weather across multiple provinces over the weekend, including a particularly destructive tornado that struck the city of Ezhou in Hubei province.

The Tornado and Immediate Destruction

A powerful tornado swept through Ezhou City in Hubei province late Monday evening, generating winds exceeding 260 kilometers per hour. The twister was so intense that it sucked a man from his 12th-floor apartment, highlighting the extreme force of the system. At least 11 people were killed and more than 331 injured when the tornado tore through the city, leaving a trail of structural damage across residential and commercial areas.

Meteorologists characterize Maysak as exceptional for its "sudden onset and intense, short-duration winds." The generation of tornadoes across Hubei—hundreds of kilometers away from the storm's primary track—demonstrates the scale and atmospheric instability the typhoon created. These tornadoes remain rare events in China during typhoon season, making this weather system particularly unusual.

Catastrophic Flooding in Guangxi Province

In the southern province of Guangxi, Maysak produced relentless rainfall that triggered flash flooding of unprecedented speed. Residents of Renhe village reported that water rose from ankle-level Sunday to completely submerging the first floors of homes by dawn Monday. "The floods happened so rapidly, the water just came so fast," one resident told the BBC, describing how villagers had no time to gather food or possessions when evacuating.

The typhoon caused rivers to swell and dam walls to break, inundating the city of Nanning and surrounding villages. Thousands of residents were trapped on rooftops and in mountain villages, with limited access to food and medical supplies. One family reported that a four-month-old infant had gone without milk for over a day due to supply shortages. Authorities have warned that continued "extremely heavy rain" could further impede rescue operations.

Scale of the Disaster and Climate Context

The combined impact across both provinces has resulted in at least 60,000 evacuations with approximately 90,000 people affected in total. The disaster underscores how extreme weather increasingly threatens China's residents and economy, particularly its trillion-dollar agriculture sector. Experts link the rising frequency and intensity of such events to climate change, a pattern already evident in China's disaster management challenges.

Maysak is the first typhoon to make landfall in China during this season. However, another system—Super Typhoon Bavi—is currently moving across the Pacific and forecast to strike China's eastern coast later this week, raising concerns about compounded weather impacts and continued strain on rescue and relief infrastructure.