China suffers 160 bil. yuan losses from disasters this year

As learned from the Ministry of Civil Affairs China has suffered direct economic losses of more than 160 billion yuan this year due to natural disasters.

Statistics show that by far natural disasters such as floods, draughts, storm-hails, earthquakes, disastrous snowfalls, low temperature frosts, landslides and mud-rock flows have caused deaths and injuries of more than 2,000 people and emergency evacuation of more than 6 million people. About 1.5 million houses have been broken down and more than 5 million have been damaged. About 40 million hectares of crops have been damaged with total crop failure reaching more than 7 million hectares. Direct economic losses from disasters have reached 160 billion yuan.

To organize disaster relief the Ministry of Civil Affairs, together with the Ministry of Finance, has appropriated 3.2-odd billion yuan of relief funds to disaster areas. More than 30,000 emergency tents have been allocated to these areas and about 5 million yuan donation have been remitted.

As learned since China's major rivers remain stable no drainage-wide floods have occurred this year. However, mountain torrents caused by heavy rains, landslides and mud-rock flows are quite often, which have brought serious casualties and economic losses to some areas.

By People's Daily Online