Natural disasters kill 367 in August

Natural disasters across China claimed 367 lives and left another 115 people missing in August, according to official statistics released on Monday.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction said in a report that nearly 139.4 million people were affected by the disasters and 3.13 million people were forced to relocate.

About 136,000 houses were destroyed and 1.11 million houses were damaged to varying degrees. Nearly 15.36 million hectares of farmland were affected, with 2.56 million hectares unable to yield any crops, according to the report.

The disasters caused direct economic losses of 148.73 billion yuan (about 24.29 billion U.S. dollars).

Natural disasters in August were mainly floods, droughts, typhoon and earthquakes, according to the report.