Two people were hurt, several houses were destroyed and more than 7,000 households were left without power in two villages in southern Taiwan after a tornado ripped through the area at around 3 p.m. Monday.
The tornado left plenty of damage in its wake, including uprooted electric posts, a collapsed scaffolding and several destroyed houses built with light materials in Zhen'an village in Linbian Township and Wanhua village in Nanzhou Township in Pingtung County, 390 kilometers south of Taipei.
Around 7,400 households in those villages lost electricity due to the downed electric posts or damaged transmission lines, Taiwan Power Co. said.
Local disaster response units were still assessing the damage as of 5 p.m., the Pingtung Fire Department said.
Big tornadoes are extremely rare in Taiwan, and people in the area had never seen a tornado as strong and powerful as this one, according to Linbian Township chief Chen Chun-chi (陳俊吉).
