China initiates emergency response to drought affecting 11.53m

Chinese officials said the national disaster agency initiated a level-four emergency response to severe drought conditions in the Jiangxi and Hubei provinces. The National Commission for Disaster Reduction began their efforts Thursday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The drought has affected 11.53 million people across the two provinces and 2.9 million people do not have enough drinking water, authorities said. The drought has also caused economic losses of $760 million, and more than 280,000 acres of land will bear no harvests as a result of the conditions, Xinhua reported. The governments of the two provinces have set aside funds to help alleviate the shortage.