BEIJING: More than 8.96 million people have been affected due to natural disasters including floods, droughts in month of October in China, local news reported.
Citing data released by the ministry of emergency, Global Times reported that a total of 43 people feared dead during the month.
It added that natural disasters in October also led to the relocation of 388,000 people, 32,000 houses collapsed and 184,000 houses damaged to varying degrees, affected an area of crops of 785,000 hectares and caused 16.26 billion yuan in (USD 2.5 billion) economic losses, the ministry data showed.
China reported three cases of heavy rainfall in October, bringing the national precipitation to 51 millimeters, 44 per cent more than normal in the same period, as per Global Times.
The flood in China affected some 3.2 million and 21 died and missing. The number of relocation of residents and collapsed houses was the highest compared with the same period in the past five years.
In October, four typhoons occurred in the Northwest Pacific and the South China Sea region, with an average increase of 0.19 in the same period in many years. Among them, Typhoon Lionrock and Tropical Storm Kompasu landed in China, the media outlet said.
Apart from it, seven earthquakes of magnitude 4 and above occurred in China, mainly in western regions such as Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai and Sichuan.
China also registered 18 sporadic forest fires in October, which is 84 per cent lower than previous years in the same period, as per Global Times.