A tornado hit a town in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, ripping off roofs, snapping tree branches, and damaging agricultural facilities on Sunday.
An amateur footage released online captured a cone-shaped tornado as it swept through the town of Lanhe, creating sparks when it passed through high-voltage power lines.
Electricity workers rushed to the town after the disaster to repair the damaged power lines.
One eyewitness recounted his experience.
"I heard the sound of wind, then I looked at the ceiling, and the entire house started shaking, as if in an earthquake. The roof was torn off in an instant," said the witness.
The witness also said that the adjacent tin sheets of the house collapsed after the roof was gone and his roommate was injured by glass shards in the mouth.
The tornado also flattened some crops, primarily orange saplings.
The local meteorological department said that the tornado affected some three hectares of farmland, damaged six makeshift houses, and toppled several trees.
Efforts have been made to clear the fallen trees, while work is underway to clean up the damaged houses in the aftermath of the natural disaster.
Tornado hits Guangzhou town, ripping off roofs, toppling trees
Tornado hits Guangzhou town, ripping off roofs, toppling trees
Tornado hits Guangzhou town, ripping off roofs, toppling trees
The 2024 World Robot Contest Finals, just concluded on Tuesday in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, has captivated visitors with exciting robot battles and groundbreaking technologies.
The event consists of two major competitions: Brain-Computer Interface or BCI Brain-controlled Robot Competition and Youth Robot Design Competition.
Running from Jan 16 to 21, the event covers more than 20 major events, 50 minor events and 100 competition groups, providing a broad competitive stage for robot enthusiasts around the world.
During the six-day event, incredible displays realized by BCI technology, like typing and communicating with mind, have also taken the spotlight at the fair.
BCI refers to a system allowing a person to control a computer or other electronic device using his or her brainwaves, without requiring any movement or verbal instruction.
At the competition site, young contestants, wearing portable devices on their heads, silently controlled line-following robots to complete challenge tasks by leveraging their brainwave signals.
Wu Qin, a referee of the competition, explained that the performance of contestants is determined by their level of concentration during the event, with the data being collected from within the human brain.
"The BCI device works kind of like a fitness tracker that monitors our heart rate and blood oxygen levels," Wu added.
Meanwhile, a display and experience area, showcasing various application scenarios of BCI, have attracted crowds of visitors.
"I just experienced the mood breathing light and visual typing. Both are quite advanced. I haven't come across similar things before. This competition let us learn about these novel devices, and it's great," said a visitor.
Robot competition wows public with advancing brain-computer interface technology