China News Service, January 20 According to the website of the Ministry of Emergency Management, after consultation and approval by relevant member units of the National Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief Committee, in 2023, my country's natural disasters will be mainly floods, typhoons, earthquakes and geological disasters, with drought, Wind hail, low temperature freezing and snow disasters, sandstorms and forest and grassland fires also occur to varying degrees.
Throughout the year, various natural disasters caused a total of 95.444 million people to be affected to varying degrees, with 691 people dead and missing due to disasters, and 3.344 million people being relocated in an emergency; 209,000 collapsed houses, 623,000 seriously damaged, and 1.441 million generally damaged; the area of crops affected by disasters 105.393 thousand hectares; direct economic loss of 345.45 billion yuan.
Compared with the average of the past five years, the number of people affected by disasters, the number of people dead and missing due to disasters, and the area affected by crop damage decreased by 24.4%, 2.8%, and 37.2% respectively. The number of collapsed houses and direct economic losses increased by 96.9% and 12.6% respectively.
The main characteristics of natural disasters across the country in 2023 are:
1. The spatial and temporal distribution of natural disasters across the country is uneven, with an obvious pattern of “heavy in the north and light in the south”
From January to March, except for the winter-spring drought in southwest China and the major avalanche disaster in Nyingchi, Tibet, the overall disaster situation across the country was relatively stable.
In early summer, continuous rainy weather occurred in Henan and other places, which adversely affected the summer harvest.
Entering the main flood season, major disasters such as super typhoon Dusuri, catastrophic floods in the Haihe River Basin, severe rainstorms and floods in the Songliao Basin have occurred one after another.
In mid-December, low-temperature rain, snow and freezing disasters occurred in Shanxi and other places, which had a great impact on people's production and life. On December 18, the 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Jishishan, Gansu caused heavy casualties in Gansu and Qinghai provinces.
The number of houses collapsed due to disasters in the north and the south accounted for 92.2% and 7.8% of the country's total losses respectively, and the direct economic losses accounted for 73.7% and 26.3% respectively.
2. North China and Northeast China suffered severe heavy rains and floods, and local flash floods and geological disasters broke out.
In 2023, the national average precipitation was 612.9 mm, 3.9% less than normal, and there were 35 regional heavy rains.
From the end of May to the beginning of June, a large area of continuous rainy weather occurred in Henan, which overlapped with the mature wheat harvest period, causing damage to a wide range of crops.
During the "seven down and eight up" periods, affected by the remnant cloud system of Typhoon Dusuri, extreme heavy rains occurred in North and Northeast China one after another, and a catastrophic flood occurred in the Haihe River, causing heavy casualties and property losses in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and other places, and the Songhua River Severe floods occurred in the basin, causing serious damage to Heilongjiang, Jilin and other places.
Localized flash floods and geological disasters occur in many places in the southwest and northwest, causing heavy casualties in Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi and other places.
Floods throughout the year caused a total of 52.789 million people to be affected to varying degrees, with 309 people dead and missing, 130,000 houses collapsed, and direct economic losses of 244.57 billion yuan.
In addition, a total of 3,666 geological disasters such as landslides, collapses, and debris flows occurred across the country. The disaster levels were mainly small, mainly in North China, Southwest China, and other regions.
3. The number of typhoons forming and making landfall is relatively small, and the landfall intensity is relatively strong, bringing many extremely heavy rainfalls.
In 2023, a total of 17 typhoons will be generated in the northwest Pacific and South China Sea, which is significantly less than normal. Six of them will land in my country, which is slightly less than normal.
During the landfall of Typhoon Dusuri, it brought heavy rains to Zhejiang and Fujian, causing local flash floods and waterlogging in some cities. After landing, it moved northward, and the circulation was maintained on land for a long time, causing extremely heavy rainfall in many places such as North China, Huanghuai, and Northeast China. Triggering severe heavy rains and floods; when Typhoon "Sura" made landfall, with the cooperation of cold air, it brought large-scale heavy rains to Guangdong and Guangxi; after Typhoon "Haikwai" made landfall, the residual vortex affected South China for a long time, and many places in Fujian and Guangdong suffered heavy rains. Precipitation at the site exceeded historical extremes.
In 2023, typhoon disasters caused a total of 11.316 million people to be affected to varying degrees, with 12 people dead and missing due to the disaster, more than 7,000 houses collapsed, and direct economic losses of 47.49 billion yuan.
4. The moderately strong earthquakes in mainland my country were obviously weak, and the 6.2-magnitude Jishishan earthquake in Gansu caused heavy losses.
In 2023, a total of 11 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or above occurred in the mainland, which was significantly lower than the previous annual average. Among them, there were 2 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or above, which was also lower than the previous annual average.
The 5.5-magnitude earthquake in Shandong Plain caused damage to more than 2,900 houses, damaged some infrastructure, and caused a direct economic loss of 240 million yuan.
The 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Jishishan, Gansu caused 151 deaths and 983 injuries in Gansu and Qinghai provinces. 70,000 houses collapsed, 99,000 seriously damaged houses, 252,000 generally damaged houses, and direct economic losses of 14.612 billion yuan.
5. Periodic droughts occurred in the southwest, north, northwest and other places, and the disasters were generally lighter than normal
In 2023, my country experienced consecutive winter and spring droughts in the southwest, localized summer droughts in the north, and late autumn droughts in the northwest. The disasters were generally mild.
At the beginning of the year, most of the southwest received less precipitation, especially in Yunnan, where the average precipitation from January to May was 50% less than normal.
From May to June, North China and the Huanghuai River experienced many high-temperature processes with significant extremes, and precipitation in the western part of Northeast China was 20% to 30% less.
From June to August, precipitation and water inflow from rivers in the region were low in western Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, most of Gansu, and southern Qinghai, causing temporary difficulties in drinking water for humans and animals and agricultural irrigation in some areas.
In 2023, drought disasters caused 20.974 million people to be affected to varying degrees, the affected crop area was 38.037 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 20.55 billion yuan.
6. Wind and hail disasters spread from many points, and Jiangsu and other places were affected by strong convective weather
In 2023, a total of 33 severe convective weather processes will occur across the country, which is less than the average for the same period in the past five years, mainly concentrated in spring and summer.
A total of more than 1,100 counties (cities, districts) across the country have been affected by wind and hail disasters, widely scattered in North China, Huanghuai, northwest, southwest and other places.
A total of 26 tornadoes were observed and recorded throughout the year, including 9 severe tornadoes, which was significantly higher than the multi-year average number.
Tornado disasters in Yancheng, Suqian, Nantong and other places in Jiangsu Province killed 14 people.
In 2023, wind and hail disasters caused a total of 6.053 million people to be affected to varying degrees, 57 people died due to the disaster, the crop damage area was 1174.5 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 11.73 billion yuan.
In addition, there were 17 sand and dust weather events throughout the year that affected our country.
7. Northeast China and North China suffered from freezing temperatures and snow disasters, and a severe avalanche disaster occurred in Linzhi, Tibet.
In 2023, the country will be affected by 31 cold air processes, including 8 cold wave processes.
From November 5th to 7th and 21st to 24th, the cold air intensity reached a cold wave, and heavy snowfall occurred in Inner Mongolia and Northeast China.
From December 13th to 16th, the cold air intensity reached a strong cold wave. A total of 18 stations in Hebei, Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin and other places saw the daily minimum temperature fall below the historical extreme value in December since the establishment of the station. Widespread rain and snow weather occurred in the central region, causing Hebei , Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and other places were affected.
In addition, an avalanche occurred on the Paimo Highway in Nyingchi, Tibet on January 17, killing 28 people. It was the deadliest avalanche disaster in my country in recent years.
In 2023, low-temperature freezing and snow disasters caused a total of 3.225 million people to be affected to varying degrees, 30 people died due to the disaster, the affected crop area was 519.2 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 4.92 billion yuan.
8. The number of forest and grassland fires has reached historical lows, and the situation is generally stable.
In 2023, a total of 328 forest fires occurred across the country, mainly concentrated in the four provinces (regions) of Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Guangxi, and Yunnan, with 2 deaths due to the disaster; a total of 15 grassland fires occurred, mainly concentrated in Inner Mongolia, with 1 death due to the disaster. .
The number of forest and grassland fires is at a historical low. The number of forest fires and grassland fires has dropped by 77.5% and 46.8% respectively compared with the average value of the past five years.