China News Service, Beijing, November 8 (Reporter Guo Chaokai) Zhou Xuewen, member of the Party Committee and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management of China, stated in Beijing on the 8th that from January to October this year, floods caused 58.9 million people to be affected, 590 people were killed or missing, and 351.5. Ten thousand people were urgently transferred and resettled, and 203,000 houses collapsed, causing a direct economic loss of 240.6 billion yuan.
On the same day, the State Council Information Office of China held a press conference on accelerating the modernization of the emergency management system and capabilities.
Zhou Xuewen said at the press conference that compared with the average of the same period in the past five years, the number of people affected by the disaster has dropped by 12.9%, the number of people killed and missing due to the disaster has risen by 9.7%, the number of emergency transfers and resettlement has dropped by 8.5%, and the number of collapsed houses has increased by 25.3%. This is a direct economic loss. Increased by 12.3%.
He pointed out two notable features of China's flood disasters this year: First, the distribution of rainfall is generally more in the north and less in the south, and there is more rainfall in the north, so flood disasters are heavy; second, the autumn flood season is rare in history.
Speaking of this year’s disaster relief work, he revealed that since this year, the Ministry of Emergency Management has initiated 11 national disaster relief emergency responses to flood disasters in various regions, and the response to Henan floods has been upgraded to level two; together with the Ministry of Finance, a total of 2.186 billion yuan has been issued by the central government. Natural disaster relief funds, in conjunction with the State Food and Material Reserve Bureau, allocated 350,000 central life-related disaster relief materials to ensure the transfer and settlement of the affected people and their basic living needs.
At the same time, the Emergency Management Department dispatched 250,000 national comprehensive firefighting and rescue teams to participate in flood prevention and flood relief rescue in various regions, rescued more than 200,000 people and evacuated and transferred people, and actively assisted localities in drainage, dredging, disinfection, etc., to help disaster victims. The masses restored normal production and living order.
Regarding the winter and spring relief work for the disaster-stricken people, he said that the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Finance have arranged and deployed the winter and spring life relief work for the disaster-affected people in advance at the end of September.
"Considering the impact of the autumn flood this year, we promptly asked the local governments to include the people affected by the autumn flood in the winter and spring assistance, provide funds and materials to assist and assist, and actively coordinate to solve the difficulties faced by basic life."
He said that currently, the Ministry of Emergency Management is working with the Ministry of Finance to calculate and arrange the central winter and spring disaster relief funds. Before the cold wave, 237,000 pieces of quilts and cotton coats and other central disaster relief materials were allocated to some provinces to support local governments to ensure that the victims are safe and warm through the winter." (End)