China floods: Close to 60 million people affected; 590 reported dead or missing

Beijing [China], November 8 : As many as 590 people died or went missing in China, from January to October this year, due to flood-related disasters which affected 58.9 million people in the country, China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) said on Monday.
Authorities said 3.5 million people needed emergency relocation and 203,000 houses collapsed, resulting in direct economic losses of 240.6 billion yuan, China's Global Times newspaper reported.
Zhou Xuewen, a deputy head of China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), revealed these statistics at a press conference on Monday.
The publication said that the Chinese authorities have issued a total of 2.186 billion yuan in central relief funds for natural disasters and allocated 350,000 central relief supply items to meet the demands of affected people.
The emergency ministry said it has constructed a rescue force system since it was established in 2018, including over 3000 professional rescue teams at the national level specializing in disasters and other expertise.
According to Zhou, local governments have been urgently repairing local infrastructure, processing the safety identification of damaged houses and harvesting autumn grain. Moreover, the MEM is helping local governments to draw up post-disaster recovery and reconstruction plans, Global Times reported.
Some provinces with better conditions should complete the reconstruction of collapsed houses before Spring Festival early in the next year, Zhou added.