After several years of mega-disasters and consequent high funding for disaster response, international humanitarian disaster funding dipped to the relatively low 2009 level.

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Floods killed 673 people and left another 159 missing in China last year, Zhang Zhitong, office head of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said on Saturday.

"The death toll was about half the average number seen in the previous years," Zhang said.

Serious floods hit the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River and northern parts of the Haihe River last year, pushing up water levels on more than 420 additional rivers, Zhang said.

Natural disasters over the first semester of 2012

Since 2011, the meteorological protection project of geological disaster prevention implemented by CMA has progressed smoothly. The observing system, equipment support system, forecasting and risk assessment system and early warning service system of this project are carried out in an orderly manner. Currently, the second phase of this project has been started. The project of flash floods control at county-level has already been launched.

BEIJING, 14 September 2012 – UNICEF is mobilizing to send urgently needed support for children affected by the 5.7 magnitude earthquake which recently struck Yunnan. The tremor, which killed 81 and injured more than 800, wiped out 1,900 houses and severely damaged another 37,500. Subsequent heavy rains and mudslides have caused additional damage, and hampered access to the region.

CHANGSHA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Lishui River which runs through Zhangjiajie, China's famed tourist spot in central Hunan Province, is suffering from severe flooding, the provincial flood control headquarters said Thursday.

The headquarters warned that its hydrological stations in Zhangjiajie monitored that the river is suffering from the worst flooding in 65 years.

The flood control headquarters said some 269,000 people in 62 townships in Zhangjiajie City have been evacuated because of the flooding threat. However, no casualties were reported.

CHENGDU, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- A new round of torrential rains that started Sunday night inundated parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province, leaving six people dead and four missing, local authorities said Monday.

The victims were reported in the cities of Guangyuan and Suining, the Sichuan provincial flood control office said in a statement.

Rainstorms continued into Monday night and a township in Shehong county of Suining reported the largest precipitation of 257.3 mm in just six hours Monday, it said.

Overview

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies (IFRC) East Asia regional office serves to support and build capacities within the national societies of the East Asia region. The region includes China, Mongolia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Republic of Korea, and Japan. The IFRC has annual programmes that support the national societies in China, Mongolia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

CHENGDU, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Continuous rainstorms have affected over 656,600 people as of Saturday in southwest China's Sichuan province, said the provincial flood control authorities.

As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, over 62,600 people have been forced to relocate to avoid geological risks caused by this round of rainstorms, according to the Sichuan provincial headquarters of flood control.

Severe rainstorms, which started on Thursday, battered 23 cities and counties of Sichuan, flooded about 28,960 hectares of farmlands and collapsed about 8,500 houses.

Editor: An