Chinanews, August 4th, the Ministry of Emergency Management website announced on the 4th the national natural disaster situation in July 2020. According to reports, in July, the country's natural disasters were dominated by floods and geological disasters, and disasters such as wind and hail, earthquakes, drought, and forest fires also occurred to varying degrees. It has been approved that various natural disasters have caused 43.08 million people to be affected, 130 people were killed and missing, 2.997 million people were urgently transferred and resettled, 27,000 houses collapsed, 244,000 houses were damaged to varying degrees, and the affected area of crops was 5,606 thousand hectares, direct economic losses 117 billion yuan.
Data map: Fire rescue personnel urgently transferred the trapped people. Photo by Xiao Lefeng
Recently, the Ministry of Emergency Management, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Bureau of Meteorology, conducted a consultation and analysis on the national natural disasters in July. In July, the country's natural disasters were dominated by floods and geological disasters, and disasters such as wind and hail, earthquakes, drought, and forest fires also occurred to varying degrees. With the joint efforts of all parties, the safety of people’s lives and property has been effectively guaranteed, and disaster losses have been minimized.
It has been approved that various natural disasters have caused 43.08 million people to be affected, 130 people were killed and missing, 2.997 million people were urgently transferred and resettled, 27,000 houses collapsed, 244,000 houses were damaged to varying degrees, and the affected area of crops was 5,606 thousand hectares, direct economic losses 117 billion yuan.
Compared with the same period last year, the number of people affected by disasters increased by 72%, the number of people who died and was missing due to the disaster decreased by 30%, the number of emergency transfers increased by 125%, the number of collapsed houses increased by 6%, and the direct economic loss increased by 107%; compared with the average of the same period in the past five years By comparison, the number of people affected by the disaster and the number of missing persons killed and missing due to the disaster dropped by 9% and 58% respectively, the number of emergency transfers increased by 18%, the number of collapsed houses dropped by 74%, and the direct economic losses were basically the same.
The rainfall in the country and the inflow of major rivers are significantly higher, and the Yangtze River, Huaihe River and Taihu Lake Basins are flooded
In July, there were 6 large-scale heavy rainfall processes across the country, with an average rainfall of 157.5 mm, which was 8.8% higher than the same period in normal years. Heavy rainfall has the characteristics of large accumulated rainfall, long duration, strong extremes, and overlap of falling areas. It is mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huai River Basin. The Yangtze River Basin is 57.2% more than normal in the same period of the year, which is the largest historical period since 1961. The watershed was 31.6% higher than that in the same period of normal years. In Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and other places, 46 national-level observation stations exceeded the daily rainfall extreme value in July, and 20 of them exceeded the historical extreme value.
The main rivers have more water in general. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are more than 40% to 60%, the Huai River is 1.7-1.8 times more, and the Yellow River is more than 50%-1 times. Over-warning floods occurred in 385 rivers in 23 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). 133 rivers including the main stream of the middle Yangtze River, Poyang Lake, Taihu Lake and surrounding river network areas, and the main stream of the upper and middle reaches of the Huai River occurred in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. 39 rivers such as Changjiang River in Jiangxi, the main stream of the middle reaches of the Huai River, and Chaohu Lake in Anhui have experienced super-historical floods.
The flood disaster has a wide range, and some areas have suffered severely
In July, affected by multiple rounds of heavy rainfall, floods occurred in 25 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. In particular, Anhui faces three-line flood control pressure on the Yangtze River, Huaihe River, and Chaohu Lake. The main stream of the Yangtze River, Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, and Lake Taihu continue to have high water levels. The infrastructure was severely damaged, a large number of residential houses were flooded, and a large number of disaster-stricken people were urgently transferred, requiring long-term resettlement assistance.
According to statistics, the national flood disaster in July caused 38.173 million disasters, 56 deaths and disappearances, and 2.996 million emergency resettlement; 27,000 houses collapsed and 240,000 houses were damaged to varying degrees; crops affected an area of 388.7 thousand hectares; direct economic losses were 1097.4 100 million yuan. Compared with the average of the same period in the past five years, the number of people affected by floods and emergency resettlement in July increased by 62.5% and 88.6%, and the number of dead and missing and collapsed houses decreased by 74.2% and 67.3% respectively. In addition, geological disasters caused by natural factors in July caused 60 deaths and disappearances.
Regional droughts occurred in northern and southern China, and the impact of the disaster was slight
In July, precipitation in the central and southern parts of Northeast China, eastern North China, and most of southern China was 40% to 80% less than normal. From the northern region, droughts have occurred in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Shaanxi, Xinjiang and other places. Among them, the drought in the west of Northeast China is relatively severe, and the contradiction between agricultural water supply and water consumption is prominent in some areas. According to statistics, 4 provinces (Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia) (District) drought caused 2.79 million people to be affected, and the area affected by crops was 1,178 thousand hectares.
From the southern perspective, due to the strong westward subtropical high this year and the weaker cross-equatorial airflow in the southern hemisphere, there were no typhoons in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea in July, which was the first record-breaking July without typhoons since 1949 ( An average of 4.1 typhoons were generated during the same period in July). Affected by the lack of rainfall and the absence of typhoon rainfall, southern China continued to have high temperatures; many places such as Fujian, Hainan, Guangdong, and Guangxi were affected by drought. The drought in southern Yunnan continued, and Hunan and Jiangxi provinces were flooded in the north and drought in the south. Compared with the average for the same period in the past five years, the country’s drought has been significantly lighter since the beginning of this year. The number of people affected, the number of people requiring assistance due to drought, the area affected by crops, and the direct economic loss have decreased by 62%, 64%, 66% and 70% respectively.
Wind and hail disasters occur scattered, and forest fires frequently occur due to lightning strikes in the Greater Xing'an Mountains
In July, there were 10 strong convective weather processes across the country. Twenty provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps suffered wind and hail disasters to varying degrees. 1.183 million people were affected and 14 people died. The direct economic loss was 2.93 billion yuan. The northern region is more prominent, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang have direct economic losses of 2.4 billion yuan from wind and hail disasters, accounting for 82%. Compared with the average of the same period in the past five years, the number of people affected by wind and hail disasters, the number of dead and missing due to disasters, and direct economic losses have decreased by 68%, 42% and 42% respectively.
In July, there were 106 forest fires across the country, causing no casualties. Mainly concentrated in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang Daxingan Mountains, 97 incidents occurred in the two places, accounting for 91% of the number of forest fires in July, and they were all caused by lightning strikes. Compared with the average of the same period in the past five years, the number of forest fires increased by 48, an increase of 84%.
Medium-strength earthquakes occurred successively in Tangshan, Hebei and Nima, Tibet, causing no major losses
In July, there were 20 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or higher in mainland China, and the number of earthquakes of magnitude 4 and 5 was significantly higher than that of the same period in normal years. The earthquake of magnitude 5.1 in Tangshan, Hebei Province on July 12 and the magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Nima, Tibet on July 23 Social attention is high, and the earthquake disaster loss is generally light, without causing casualties. The magnitude 5.1 earthquake in Tangshan, Hebei Province occurred near the urban area. Due to the generally good building quality and strong earthquake resistance in the earthquake area, only a few old houses were cracked or shattered. The Nima 6.6 earthquake in Tibet is the highest magnitude earthquake in mainland China this year, but the epicenter is located in a sparsely populated area at high altitude, which only caused damage to more than 50 old houses, and local herders lived in tents due to grazing in summer without causing injuries Wait for the situation.