China plans to build more natural disaster observation stations
in rural areas over the next five years and set up a network of
precision weather stations covering 90 percent of countryside.
Qin Dahe, director of the National Meteorological Bureau said
here Thursday that the country must strengthen forecasts in rural
areas to cut casualties caused by natural disasters.
Statistics showed that rural areas account for 80 percent of the
deaths each year caused by natural and weather disasters such as
drought, torrential rains, typhoons and landslides.
Natural disasters destroy 2 million homes each year and a
majority of them are located in the countryside.
Qin said the network will allow local governments to issue
earlier warning of natural disasters in rural areas and improve the
ability to forecast where disasters might occur.
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2006)
