According to the website of the Emergency Management Department, the Emergency Management Department released the basic situation of natural disasters in 2022 on the 13th. In the whole year, 112 million people were affected by various natural disasters, 554 people died and disappeared due to disasters, and 2.428 million people were resettled. 47,000 houses collapsed and 796,000 houses were damaged to varying degrees; The affected area of crops is 12,071.6 thousand hectares; The direct economic loss was 238.65 billion yuan. Compared with the average in recent five years, the number of people who died and disappeared, the number of houses collapsed and the direct economic losses decreased by 30.8%, 63.3% and 25.3% respectively.
According to reports, the Ministry of Emergency Management, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Health and Wellness Commission, the Statistics Bureau, the Meteorological Bureau, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Grain and Material Reserve Bureau, the Forestry and Grass Bureau, the China Red Cross Society, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. and other departments and units, approved that in 2022, China’s natural disasters will be dominated by floods, droughts, windstorms, earthquakes and geological disasters.
Affected by extreme weather, major disasters occurred, such as floods in the Pearl River basin, breaches of the Raoyang River, a tributary of the Liaohe River, flash floods in Datong, Qinghai, Pingwu and Beichuan in Sichuan, droughts in summer, autumn and winter in the Yangtze River basin, and forest fires in southern China. The Luding 6.8 earthquake in Sichuan caused heavy casualties. The Emergency Management Department strengthened overall coordination, made every effort to do a good job in emergency rescue and disaster relief, and minimized casualties and property losses.
The main features of national natural disasters in 2022 are:
First, the distribution of natural disasters in China is uneven in time and space, with frequent occurrences in summer and autumn and severe disasters in the central and western regions.
From January to April, the disaster situation was generally stable and light, except for the 6.9 earthquake in Menyuan, Qinghai Province on January 8 and the freezing rain and snow disaster in some parts of southern China in February. After entering summer and autumn, severe rainstorm and flood disasters occurred in South China, Jiangnan and Liaohe River Basin, rare drought in summer and autumn and winter in Yangtze River Basin, local mountain torrents and mudslides in Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Gansu and Qinghai, as well as major disasters such as Lushan 6.1 earthquake in Sichuan, Marcand 6.0 earthquake swarm and Luding 6.8 earthquake. During the period from long summer to beginning of winter, the number of deaths, disappearances and direct economic losses caused by various natural disasters accounted for 92% and 91% of the total annual losses respectively. There are 10 provinces with direct economic losses of over 10 billion yuan due to disasters throughout the year.
Second, the flood disaster is "heavy in the north and south, light in the middle", and local mountain torrents frequently recur.
In 2022, there were 38 regional rainstorm processes in China, with an average precipitation of 606.1 mm, 5% less than normal. Floods exceeding the warning level occurred in 626 rivers in 28 provinces across the country, and there were 10 numbered floods in large rivers. Among them, the Pearl River Basin formed two consecutive large floods, and the Beijiang River experienced the biggest flood since 1915. The biggest flood occurred in Liaohe since 1995; The flood situation of the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Haihe River is generally stable. South China has experienced nine regional rainstorm processes in the first flood season, and the precipitation in the Pearl River Basin is the highest in the same period since 1961, resulting in large basin floods. In July and August, serious floods occurred in Liaohe River Basin. Sudden flash floods in Sichuan, Qinghai and other places caused heavy casualties. In the whole year, 33.853 million people were affected by floods, 171 people died and disappeared due to disasters, and the direct economic loss was 128.9 billion yuan. In addition, there are 5,659 geological disasters such as landslides, collapses and mudslides in China, mainly small and medium-sized, mainly concentrated in Central South, South China and Southwest China.
Three, the Yangtze River Basin has a rare history of continuous drought in summer, autumn and winter, which has a wide range of influences and heavy losses.
In 2022, affected by the strong subtropical high and La Ni? a phenomenon, the average temperature in China was high, and there were successive droughts in winter and spring in the Pearl River basin at the beginning of the year, in spring and summer in Huanghuaihai and Northwest China from April to June, and in summer, autumn and winter in the Yangtze River basin. Among them, the drought in the Yangtze River basin is the most serious meteorological and hydrological drought since the complete measured data are available, and the number of days above the moderate drought is 77 days, 54 days more than the normal period, which is the highest in the historical period since 1961. At the peak of the drought, 52.452 million people were affected, 7.585 million people needed life assistance due to the drought, the affected area of crops was 60.902 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 51.28 billion yuan.
Fourth, the temporal and spatial distribution of forest and grassland fires is relatively concentrated.
In 2022, there were 709 forest fires in China, with an area of 4,689.5 hectares of forest affected and 17 people killed. In terms of time distribution, March-April and September-October are the high incidence periods of forest fires, with 521 cases, accounting for 74% of the whole year. In terms of spatial distribution, affected by factors such as high temperature and drought, there were 503 forest fires in six provinces of Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong and Chongqing, accounting for 71% of the country. There were 21 grassland fires in China, including 16 in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai, accounting for 76% of the country.
Five, the strong convective weather process is less, the wind and hail disasters are lighter, and the lightning strike events are relatively prominent.
In 2022, there were 37 regional strong convective weather processes in China, the number of which was less than the average in recent years. From the time point of view, it is mainly concentrated in summer, and the number of deaths and missing persons and direct economic losses caused by strong convective weather account for 73% and 69% of the annual losses caused by wind and hail disasters respectively. Regionally, it is mainly distributed in North China, Northwest China and Southwest China. There are many casualties caused by lightning strikes in Qinghai and Sichuan. On the whole, the wind and hail disasters in 2022 were lighter than normal, causing 9.306 million people to be affected, 88 people died and the direct economic loss was 16.67 billion yuan.
Six, moderate and strong earthquakes in the western region are more active, and the loss of earthquake disasters is biased.
In 2022, there were 27 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or above in mainland China, which increased on average compared with previous years, mainly concentrated in western areas such as Qinghai, Sichuan and Xinjiang. The earthquake with the highest magnitude in the whole year was the Menyuan M6.9 earthquake in Qinghai on January 8, and the earthquake with the heaviest loss was the Luding M6.8 earthquake in Sichuan on September 5. In 2022, the earthquake disaster losses were heavier than normal, resulting in a total of 940,000 people affected, 122 people died and disappeared due to the disaster, and the direct economic loss was 22.45 billion yuan.
Seven, the number of typhoons landing is small, and the landing sites are relatively concentrated.
In 2022, there were 25 typhoons in the Pacific Northwest and the South China Sea, which was basically the same as normal, and four of them landed in China, which was less than normal. On July 2nd, Typhoon No.3 "Siam Ba" landed on the coast of Dianbai, Guangdong, becoming the first typhoon to land. Three of the four landfall typhoons landed in Guangdong, and the 12th typhoon "Meihua" landed four times in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, Fengxian, Shanghai, Qingdao, Shandong and Dalian, Liaoning, which was the first typhoon to land in different parts of mainland China for four times since 1949. The direct economic loss caused by typhoon disaster in 2022 was 5.42 billion yuan, which was lighter than normal.
8. Low temperature rain, snow and freezing affect the southwest and central and southern regions, and the local snowstorm in Xinjiang is serious.
In 2022, China was affected by 35 cold air processes, 5.9 times more than normal. In February, the average temperature in the south was the lowest in the same period since 2009. The southwest and central and southern regions were seriously affected by the low-temperature rain, snow and freezing disasters, and the direct economic losses accounted for 80% of the annual losses caused by the low-temperature rain, snow and freezing disasters. From November 26th to December 1st, the strongest cold wave weather since winter brought severe cooling, strong winds and dust, rain and snow to most parts of the country, and extreme snowstorms in Altay and Tacheng areas of Xinjiang caused casualties. In 2022, low-temperature freezing and snowstorm caused a total of 870.7 thousand hectares of crops to be affected, and the direct economic loss was 12.45 billion yuan.
