A total of 310 million people have been affected by natural
disasters of various types in China so far this year, the Civil
Affairs Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Direct economic losses caused by natural disasters totaled 126.4
billion yuan (about US$16.85 billion), according to the
Ministry.
To date, the National Disaster Reduction Commission and the
Ministry of Civil Affairs have launched emergency response systems
on 41 occasions. They have distributed 40,600 tents to
disaster-ravaged provinces in order to ensure temporary shelters
for evacuated locals.
The State Council has decided to increase the disaster relief
fund from 6.7 billion yuan to 11.54 billion yuan.
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2007)