Natural disasters leave 1,074 dead or missing in China

Natural disasters left 1,074 people dead or missing in China over the past nine months, according to a joint statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) and the National Disaster Reduction Commission (NDRC) on Monday. Between January and September, natural disasters affected 480 million people nationwide, resulting in the evacuation or relocation of 9.12 million people, the statement said. The disasters also incurred a total of 302.8 billion yuan (47.7 billion U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses. To deal with the disasters, the MOCA and the NDRC initiated a level IV emergency response plan 29 times and a level III plan twice over the course of the year, the statement said. The statement was issued after a consultation conducted by the two departments with the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Health, the China Earthquake Administration and the Red Cross Society of China.