Natural disasters affect millions of people in China

The Chinese government has announced statistics showing that natural disasters have affected a total of 15.17 million people last February. According to a joint statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and the National Disaster Reduction Committee (NDRC), natural disasters resulted in direct economic losses of $719.9 million during the month. More than 1.2 million hectares of crops were affected by the natural crises, the statement said, adding that 38,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The month's most serious natural phenomena was drought, with extremely low temperatures, earthquakes, heavy snowfall, hail storms, sandstorms, landslides, and forest fires also ravaging some areas, the statement said.