Natural disasters kill 37 in April

Natural disasters across China claimed 37 lives in April, and another 4 people are missing.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction said in a report that about 16 million people were affected by the disasters and 92,000 people were forced to relocate.

More than 7,000 houses were destroyed and 212,000 houses were damaged. Disasters have also afflicted 1.78 million hectares of farmland and caused direct economic losses of 12.7 billion yuan ($2 billion).

Hailstorms and ice were the main problems last month and to say nothing of droughts, floods, snowstorms and earthquakes. A total of 763 forest fires were reported.