China's natural disasters including floods, typhoons and geological disasters have affected more than 89.1 million people, leaving 499 dead and missing in the first three quarters of 2023, according to China's Ministry of Emergency Management on October 8.

A total of 2.7 million people were urgently evacuated and relocated when the natural disasters occurred, with 118,000 houses collapsing and over nine million hectares of crops being affected, leading to direct economic losses of about $42.8 billion.

In the first three quarters, flooding, typhoons and geological disasters were the main natural disasters in China.

A total of 14 typhoons were generated in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, less than the average of the same period in many years, of which four made landfall in China. More than 8 million people were affected by the typhoons, with direct economic losses exceeding 32 billion yuan.

Affected by super typhoon Doksuri, one of the strongest storms to hit the country, extreme rain battered Beijing, Tianjin and the province of Hebei in late July, causing widespread flooding and damage.

The Chinese government has allocated over 400 million yuan (about $55 million) to support rescue and relief work in the flood-hit regions.

In the first three quarters, a total of 35 instances of extreme rainfalls occurred across the country, with a cumulative rainfall of 534 millimeters, five percent less than that of the same period last year, but the temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation was uneven. The extremely heavy rainfalls also caused severe mountain torrents and other geological disasters in some regions.

Drought was also one of the major natural disasters in China, with droughts occurring successively in southwest, north and northwest China, causing problems in agricultural water supply and power supply in many parts of the country. More than 20 million people were affected and over 3 million hectares of crops were damaged.

According to the ministry, compared with the same period in the past five years, regions in southwest and northwest China were less affected by natural disasters, while north and northeast China suffered more severe natural disasters.