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When most of us hear about freak tornadoes, we assume they’re ripping through trailer parks in Oklahoma — not high-rises in central China.
Yet that’s exactly what happened late Monday night in China’s Hubei province, when extremely powerful storms tore through Huanggang city, sucking a man straight out of his 12th-story apartment. Miraculously, the 30-year-old man survived, CNN reports, and is currently in an intensive care unit.
The gales were so strong that they reportedly ripped his cabinets out of the walls and his couch off the floor, while semi trucks across Huanggang were flung as far as 100 feet, CNN notes. At least 11 people have died in the violent squall, while over 331 people are injured. The storm further damaged over 4,800 homes across Hubei.
According to Reuters, the tornado in question reached wind speeds up to 93 miles per hour, equivalent to hurricane-force winds on the extended Beaufort wind force scale.
While certain regions in China do receive tornadoes, studies have found that the amount of severe tornadic activity has substantially declined over the past few decades. Accordingly, tornadoes like this are extremely rare in Hubei, with the latest twister touching down back in May of 2021, per CNN.
The storm that produced the tornado comes as a result of supertyphoon Maysak, a massive tropical cyclone which made landfall last Friday, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate amidst deadly floods.
More on tornadoes: Illinois Is Getting Battered by Freak Tornadoes
