Society

Natural disasters kill 279 people in June

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-07-01 17:18

BEIJING - Natural disasters killed 279 people in June and left 93 others missing, according to figures released by the National Disaster Reduction Commission on Friday.

According to a notice issued by the commission, the severity of June's natural disasters was basically identical to that witnessed in previous years, although some hard-hit regions suffered from unusual challenges.

Natural disasters in June, mainly floods and droughts, together with storms, earthquakes, hurricanes and landslides, have affected 67.53 million people in total, forcing over 2 million people to leave their homes to find safe shelter elsewhere.

These disasters also caused severe damage to more than 6 million hectares of farmland and 452,000 houses, resulting in direct economic losses of 57.1 billion yuan ($8.81 billion).