Rescuers transfer trapped villagers in Taijiang District of Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 6, 2023. Typhoon Haikui, the 11th typhoon of this year, made landfall in the coastal areas of Fujian Province on Tuesday. Multiple areas of Fuzhou experienced heavy rainstorms starting from 9 p.m. Tuesday, with cumulative precipitation from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday breaking three-hour and six-hour maximum rainfall records of the Wushan national weather station.(Photo: Xinhua News Agency)

In the first three quarters of 2023, China's natural disasters including floods, typhoons and geological disasters have affected more than 89.118 million people, leaving 499 dead and missing, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Sunday, adding that the disasters caused 308.29 billion yuan ($42.87 billion) in direct economic damage.

Flooding, typhoons, geological disaster and drought were the main natural disasters in China, meanwhile other kinds of natural disasters including hail, earthquakes, sand-dust storm and forest fire also occurred to different degrees, the ministry said.

A total of 2.751 million people were urgently evacuated and relocated when the natural disasters occurred, with 118,000 houses collapsing in the past nine months. Natural disasters also hit 9714.8 million hectares of crops, according to the ministry.

Compared with the same period in the past five years, regions in North and Northeast China have suffered more serious natural disasters. In the first three quarters, a total of 35 extreme rainfalls occurred across the country, with a cumulative rainfall of 534 millimeters. The extremely heavy rainfall also caused severe mountain torrents and other geological disasters in some regions.

More than 51.904 million people were affected by floods and geological disasters, with 405 people dead or missing, leading more than 112,000 houses collapsing and direct economic loss reaching 239.3 billion yuan.

A total of 14 typhoons were generated in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, less than the average of the same period in many years, of which four made landfall in China.

Over 8.078 million people were affected by the typhoon, with 8 people were killed and missing, causing more than 32.48 billion yuan in direct economic loss. Two coastal provinces, East China's Fujian Province and South China's Guangdong Province, suffer relatively heavy damage.

Typhoon Talim made landfalltwice on July 17 and 18 in Zhanjiang, South China's Guangdong Province, and Beihai, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is the first typhoon to make landfall in our country this year, and the disaster affected over 1.12 million people in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan and caused direct economic losses of 2.61 billion yuan.

Affected by super typhoon Doksuri, extreme rainfall occurred in northern China, Huanghuai and other regions, and multiple flood storage areas in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei were put into use. The water level of other major rivers in China is lower than that of the same period of the previous years, with 262 rivers experiencing floods above warning levels, according to authorities.

The Chinese government has allocated approximately 400 million yuan to support rescue efforts and recovery work in the flood-hit regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin after the disaster.

A total of 33 severe convection weather processes occurred across the country, resulting in a total of 5.773 million people affected by hailstorms to varying degrees, 53 people were killed, 1136.4 thousand hectares of crops were affected, and direct economic damage amounting to 11.34 billion yuan.

In addition, a total of 59 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or above occurred in the Chinese mainland, the number of moderate and strong earthquakes decreased significantly, and the disaster losses were lighter than the same period in previous years, causing a total of 21,000 houses damaged and direct economic losses of 660 million yuan.

There was 308 forest fires occurred nationwide, resulting in 5 casualties. The total number of forest fires is at a record low, 192 fewer than the same period last year.

Twenty-one people were injured and 126 buildings collapsed after an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the East China's Shandong Province on Sunday, CCTV News reported.

According to an analysis by Sydney based research firm XDI, Chinese provinces occupy more than halfof global top 50 list of states and provinces most at risk of climate-related disaster by 2050.

Global Times