BEIJING - Extreme rainfall and severe flooding in China led to a near doubling in economic losses from natural disasters in July from a year earlier, the government said.

       China suffered 76.9 billion yuan (S$14.19 billion) in economic losses from natural disasters in July, with 88 per cent of those losses caused by heavy rains, floods or their effects, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

       It was the biggest amount of losses for the month of July since 2021, ministry data showed.

       Natural disasters during the month affected almost 26.4 million people across China, with 328 either dead or missing, the ministry said.

       During the month, 1.1 million people were relocated, 12,000 houses collapsed and 157,000 more were damaged. Some 2.42 million hectares of crop area were also affected.

       Extreme rainfall poured over vast areas such as the Sichuan Basin, Yellow River, Huai River and parts of the North China Plain, breaking precipitation records at 33 weather stations in Henan, Hunan and Shandong provinces.

       Swollen major rivers that were slow to recede after bouts of flooding also worsened the impact of the rains, the ministry said.

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       In central Henan, one of the country's main commercial crop production areas, more than 1.13 million hectares were affected with some harvests lost from soaked fields.

       In the south, Typhoon Gaemi had the most impact in Hunan.

       Thunderstorms, winds and hail also damaged crops and greenhouses in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. REUTERS