Besides, at least 1.75 million houses were damaged and about 10,583 hectares of crops were also affected. The natural disasters have caused direct economic losses of USD 44.37 billion in total, Global Times reported citing data from Chinese authorities.
In the first half at least 156 people were reported dead or missing by the Chinese authorities.
In July and August, storms had also caused severe floods in Central China’s Henan and Hubei provinces. At least 21 people were reported dead as a result of flooding in central China.
The mismanagement of such calamities has attracted great criticism for Beijing.
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