Disasters leave over 1,000 dead or missing in 2011
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Xinhua, January 12, 2012
A total of 1,126 people died or went missing in various natural disasters in China last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Disaster Reduction Committee said Wednesday.
Disasters in 2011 affected 430 million people and resulted in direct economic losses of 309.64 billion yuan (49.15 billion U.S. dollars), according to the report on China's natural disasters in 2011 published by the two government bodies.
About 32.47 million hectares of crops were affected by disasters, of which 2.89 million hectares of crops had been completely destroyed, the report said, adding that more than 4.2 million homes collapsed or sustained damage.
The report said that compared to other years, natural disasters in 2011 were generally mild, despite some severe disasters in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hubei provinces.
Last year saw a series of disasters, mainly in southern China, such as freezing weather at the beginning of the year, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in southwest Yunnan province, and drought in winter and summer in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, among others.
