A tornado that swept through the southern Chinese economic hub of Guangzhou killed five people and damaged scores of factory buildings on Saturday.
周六，一场龙卷风席卷了中国南部的经济中心广州，造成五人死亡，数十栋厂房受损。

The tornado struck at about 3 p.m. and injured another 33 people as it slammed through the Baiyun district, in the city’s northern suburbs, the local government said. It lasted about four minutes. Hailstones, some with diameters of around 2 inches, also fell over parts of the city.
当地政府称，龙卷风于下午3点左右袭击了该市北郊的白云区，造成33人受伤。龙卷风持续了约四分钟。该市部分地区还降下冰雹，有的直径约5厘米。

Videos shared by Chinese official media showed transmission towers and power lines igniting and debris swirling in the air, against a backdrop of a giant funnel that had darkened the midafternoon sky.
中国官方媒体发布的视频显示，输电塔和电线火花四溅，各种碎片在空中飞舞，画面的远处有一个巨大的烟囱，午后的天空变得昏暗浑浊。

Guangzhou, a sprawling city of 19 million people and a manufacturing and technology hub, has been battered this month by heavy spring downpours. Flooding across Guangdong Province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, had already led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people last week.
广州是一个拥有1900万人口的大城市，也是一个制造业和技术中心。上周，广东省各地的洪水已经导致数万人撤离。

The flow of warm, humid air from the South China Sea had led to the accumulation of a “large amount of unstable energy” near the ground, according to the Guangzhou government.
据广州市政府称，来自南海的暖湿气流导致“大量不稳定能量”在地面附近积聚。 T

he authorities said a total of 141 factory buildings were damaged by the tornado and latest rains. Guangdong’s meteorological authorities said the tornado had been a level 3 out of 5, which signals wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph.
当局称，共有141栋厂房在龙卷风和最近的降雨中受损。广东省气象部门称，龙卷风为三级（最高五级），风速在每小时218至265公里之间。

Search and rescue work had been concluded by Saturday evening, state media said. But officials warned that torrential rains and heavy wind and lightning would likely continue in Guangzhou in the coming days, as China prepares for a five-day Labor Day holiday beginning Wednesday.
官方媒体称，搜救工作已于周六傍晚结束。但官员们警告，未来几天广州可能会持续暴雨、大风和闪电，而中国准备从周三开始为期五天的劳动节假期。

One video shared by the Guangzhou government reminded residents not to go outdoors in heavy hail, or if they had to, to wear helmets.
广州市政府分享的一段视频提醒市民不要在大冰雹天气下外出，如果必须外出，也要戴上头盔。

The brown waters of the Pearl River flow through the heart of Guangzhou, much of which is very low-lying and has a long history of flooding.
泥黄色的珠江流经广州市中心，这里大部分地区地势低洼，洪水泛滥的历史由来已久。

The city has undertaken extensive efforts over the past few decades to improve its resistance to the inundations that have long accompanied the annual arrival of heavy rainstorms in late spring.
长期以来，每年春末暴雨来临时，广州都会出现洪水泛滥的情况，在过去几十年里，该市为提高抗洪能力做出了大量努力。

Municipal regulations have required in recent years that new apartment buildings have shops, not apartments, on the ground floor. The goal is to minimize the risk to human life during floods.
近年来，市政法规要求新建公寓楼的底层必须是商铺，而不是公寓。这样做的目的是尽量减少洪水对人类生命造成的威胁。

Janet Yellen, the U.S. treasury secretary, visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier this month. The city recently held the Canton Fair, a major trade exhibition.
本月初，美国财政部长耶伦在对中国进行正式访问期间访问了广州。广州最近举办了大型贸易展览——广交会。
(本新闻网址：https://www.geilien.cn/news/2024/nyguangzhou.html)

Keith Bradsher对本文有报道贡献，Amy Chang Chien对本文有研究贡献。

王月眉(Vivian Wang)是《纽约时报》驻华记者，常驻北京，撰写关于中国普通人日常生活的报道。

翻译：纽约时报中文网