Natural disasters last year took the heaviest toll on lives
since 1998, a senior official said yesterday, as the government
gets set to spend more money for setting up an advanced emergency
response system.
Ministry of Civil Affairs figures show natural disasters, such
as typhoons, floods, landslides, mud-flows, hailstorms and
earthquakes, claimed 3,155 lives in 2006, a quarter more than the
previous year.
Natural disasters killed 5,511 people in 1998, most of them
because of heavy flooding in the Yangtze River area.
"A majority of victims last year lost their lives in major
disasters," an official with the ministry's Department of Disaster
Relief, Li Baojun, said. "About half of the deaths were caused by
typhoons."
Each of last year's five major disasters claimed more than 50,
killing a total of 1,716 people, or more than half of the overall
fatality figure.
Two major typhoons, Bilis and Saomai, killed 848 and 483 people,
accounting for four in 10 deaths overall.
Building collapses, landslides, mud- and rock-flows and
lightning strikes were the other major causes of the
fatalities.
Hunan, Fujian and Yunnan provinces bore the brunt of the natural
disasters, losing 588, 503 and 409 people.
"Handling some disasters such as typhoons were beyond our
capacity," Li said. "For example, Typhoon Saomai was the worst in
50 years."
Li said the central government would allocate more funds to
establish a more efficient system to handle disasters.
China has 10 national-level bases for disaster-relief materials,
most of which are located in the eastern part of the country, Li
said, adding "we will build more bases in the western parts of the
country".
People's Daily Online quoted department Director Wang Zhenyao as
saying that though China had made progress in handling natural
disasters, it still has to prepare better for extreme weather.
For example, the authorities were caught off-guard when Typhoon
Saomai slammed directly into Shacheng Harbor in east China's Fujian
Province, even though it was a rare occurrence. The typhoon
generated winds gusting at great speeds and unusually high waves,
overturning many ships and boats.
Wang said a big problem for the authorities is convincing people
to evacuate when disasters are imminent.
A lot of lives could have been saved if people had left their
homes and belongings and moved to safer places in Fujian but they
didn't believe the typhoon would be as strong as the authorities
warned.
Hence, one of the government's tasks would be to raise the
awareness of people, especially those living in disaster-prone
areas.
(China Daily January 5, 2007)
