Downpours, hailstorms and a tornado battered parts of Yancheng City at 2:30 pm Thursday. [Photo/Weibo]

Some regions reported blackouts and interruptions to communications.

"We’ve never witnessed such a disaster or severe weather conditions," said Qiao Zonghua, a media official at the Yancheng government. He said the tornado struck densely populated areas.

Witnesses said they saw huge trees falling and villages leveled. Victims were dragged from the ruins of their homes and taken to hospitals.

"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows," said Xie Litian, 62, from Donggou township in Funing county. "I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows in it torn away."

As he ran downstairs, the roof collapsed. "I crouched in a corner on the ground floor for at least 20 minutes, afraid to move."