Typhoon Dolphin Drives Most of China's August Disaster Losses

China reported 36.03 billion yuan ($5.38 billion) in direct economic losses from natural disasters in August, with 595 people dead or missing and 12.62 million affected. Typhoon Dolphin accounted for 28.26 billion yuan, or about 78% of the total, affecting 8.8 million people and 365,900 hectares of crops. Overall, disasters damaged or destroyed homes, rendered 857,400 hectares of agricultural land unusable and forced 1.18 million people to evacuate. Floods, landslides and above-warning-level flooding were especially widespread, with geological disasters concentrated in western regions. A glacier-collapse-triggered mudslide and floods at a Tibet-Nepal border crossing left 43 dead and 519 missing in China, while the broader disaster killed more than 1,400 people in both countries.