China drought leaves 13 mln thirsty

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A drought that has parched China's southern regions since last month has left nearly 13 million people without easy access to drinking water, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Thursday.

Continuous hot and rainless weather in the provinces of Anhui, Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hubei and Zhejiang, as well as Chongqing Municipality, has caused total crop failure on around 900,000 hectares of farmland.

The drought caused a direct economic loss of nearly 40 billion yuan (6.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Hunan and Guizhou are the worst-hit regions where 3.35 million and 2.98 million people respectively are facing water shortages. The provinces suffered 14 billion and 9 billion yuan in direct economic losses.

• Severe drought lingers in Jiangxi, E China
• Severe drought hits central China
• Severe drought affects 2.98 mln in SW China
• Lingering drought affected over 5.96 million people in E China
• Lingering droughts affect 16.7 mln people in SW China
• Droughts linger in E China
• Lingering heat wave hits Shanghai, damaging crops
• Highest temperature reaches over 40 degree Celsius in E China
• Severe drought hits northern part of Guangxi
• Drought takes toll on rice crop

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