AERIAL photos posted by Chinese media today showed widespread devastation in the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado killed at least five people, injuring dozens, and damaged over a hundred buildings yesterday.

As businesses and residents began cleaning debris, the images showed widespread devastation in the hardest-hit areas, with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction, a truck overturned on its side and cars crushed by rubble. 

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province, which is home to around 127 million people and a key manufacturing hub for China, near to Hong Kong. 

The tornado, which struck during an afternoon thunderstorm that also brought hail, damaged 141 factory buildings and knocked out power in the area.

Judged to be at level-three intensity on a scale of one to five, the tornado also hit several villages in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district, destroying no homes but breaking windows, according to authorities.

Workers at a nearby furniture company took shelter in a private home after the metal roof was ripped off their building, a Chinese Media Group website reported.

The tornado follows several days of torrential rain in southern China that has led to heavy flooding and forced more than 110,000 people to be relocated, according to local media.