A cyclist rides on a flooded road caused by heavy rainstorm in Tongzhou district, Beijing.

Less damage, fewer casualties in 2018 from bad weather, report says

China (China Daily) -- China’s weather was generally stable last year, and the nation experienced significantly less weather-related damage and fewer deaths and injuries than in recent years, the China Meteorological Administration reported on Tuesday.
Phenomena such as rainstorms, floods, droughts and dust storms were less severe than usual last year, according to the 2018 China Climate Bulletin.
Natural disasters killed 635 people, damaged around 20.8 million hectares of crops, and led to direct economic losses of more than 264.5 billion yuan ($38.8 billion) last year, the report said.
Still, compared with average figures from 2013 to 2017, all three categories saw a major drop overall. In two areas typhoons and extreme cold casualties and economic damage were higher than usual last year, said Zhang Qiang, the deputy director of the National Climate Centre.
The number of typhoons that reached China rose, and the places they came ashore were more to the north, hitting some of China’s most economically vibrant regions, Zhang said.
Between 1949 and 2017, only six typhoons hit Shanghai. From late July to August, however, the city was struck by four typhoons. That included Rumbia, the typhoon that caused the most damage in China, affecting over 18 million people in seven provinces, the report said.

(Latest Update January 24, 2019)