CCTV.com News: According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, recently, the Office of the National Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief Committee, together with relevant member units, conducted a consultation and analysis on the national natural disaster situation in April 2025. In April, natural disasters in my country were mainly wind and hail disasters and drought disasters, and flood disasters, low temperature freezing and snow disasters, sandstorm disasters, geological disasters, biological disasters, forest fires, earthquake disasters, etc. also occurred to varying degrees. Various natural disasters caused a total of 6.106 million people to be affected to varying degrees, 13 people died, more than 8,200 people were urgently evacuated and resettled, more than 200 houses collapsed, 38,400 houses were damaged, and the crops were affected by 584,100 hectares, and direct economic losses of 3.78 billion yuan.

The main characteristics of natural disasters in April are:

1. Wind and hail disasters affect most parts of my country, and the disaster losses are severe. In April, wind and hail disasters circulated in many areas in the country. Among them, from 11 to 13, extreme strong winds occurred in the central and eastern regions, and gusts of wind and winds broke through the historical extreme. Large-scale strong convective weather occurred in the south. Short-term heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and hail were reported at the same time. The scope and destructive power of the disaster were strong in recent years, causing 556,000 people to be affected to varying degrees in 23 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) including Hebei, Henan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, etc. to be affected to varying degrees, 5 people died, more than 20,000 houses collapsed and damaged, some infrastructure was damaged, crops fell, and direct economic losses of 1.08 billion yuan. In April, the wind and hail disaster caused 1.199 million people to be affected to varying degrees across the country, killing 12 people, collapsed more than 100 houses, damaged 33,500 houses, and affected area of ​​153.4 thousand hectares of crops, with direct economic losses of 1.87 billion yuan.

2. Spring drought is developing phased, and the disaster situation in Guangxi is relatively prominent. Since late March, meteorological drought has developed phased development in South China, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and North China. After Qingming Festival, the temperature rebounded, there were many windy weather, and the soil lost moisture quickly. In addition, the water demand for spring plowing and spring sowing crops increased significantly. The drought disasters in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places were rapidly highlighted. Among them, the disasters in Guangxi are relatively severe, with a total of 282,000 people needed to provide living assistance due to drought, and the crops affected by 231.9 thousand hectares. In mid-to-late April, due to the precipitation process, the drought in some areas in the south was alleviated to a certain extent, but the soil in some areas of the southwest, northwest, central China, and Jianghuai still had obvious soil moisture shortage. In April, the drought disaster caused 4.614 million people to be affected to varying degrees nationwide, with a total of 492,000 people needed to provide living assistance due to drought, 4.077,000 hectares of crops affected, 17.374,000 hectares of drought, 527,000 livestock (only) due to drought drinking water difficulties, and direct economic losses of 1.54 billion yuan.

3. Most parts of my country suffer from cold waves, and sandstorm weather has a wide range of impacts

In April, there were four cold air processes affecting my country, 1.2 more than the same period last year. Among them, the 12th to 14th is a national cold wave weather process, accompanied by rare strong winds, sandstorms, heavy rainstorms, strong convection and blizzards, affecting most parts of my country from north to south. In April, low temperature freezing and snow disasters caused 86,000 people to be affected to varying degrees, and some vegetables, fruits and melons were frozen, with a disaster area of ​​114,000 hectares. The blizzard caused damage to power, communications and other infrastructure, and nearly 600 livestock (only) died due to the disaster, with direct economic losses of 110 million yuan. From the 10th to the 14th, sandstorms occurred in most areas of central and eastern China, and strong sandstorms attacked Gansu Hexi Corridor, most of Ningxia, western Inner Mongolia and other areas, causing damage to some agricultural facilities, and the area of ​​crops affected by 2.4,000 hectares, and direct economic losses of more than 17 million yuan.

4. The losses of floods and geological disasters were significantly lighter, and the ice flood situation in Northeast China was stable. In April, the national average precipitation was 38.9 mm, 10.9% less than the same period last year. Three large-scale precipitation processes occurred, mainly concentrated in the south of the Yangtze River and south China. The total runoff of major rivers in the country is 40% lower than that of the same period last year, and the water level is generally low. The three small and medium-sized rivers in Guangxi, Hainan and Fujian slightly exceeded the alarm. The losses of floods and geological disasters were significantly lighter, causing 175,000 people to be affected to varying degrees across the country, causing no deaths and disappearances, more than 4,100 people were urgently evacuated and resettled, and more than 4,900 houses collapsed and damaged, with direct economic losses of 240 million yuan. As of April 23, the main streams of Nenjiang, Songhua River, Heilongjiang and Wusuri River in the Northeast have opened the entire line, which is earlier than usual. The situation is stable during the ice flood season and no major dangerous situations have occurred.

5. Some areas maintain a high forest fire risk level, and local fires are prominent

In April, most of North China, central and northern China, northeast China, southern South China, and eastern Northwest China had high temperatures and little rain, drought continued, and the fire risk level was high. In some areas, extreme windy weather has occurred, coupled with human factors such as agriculture, sacrifices, and short-circuit wires, the fire prevention and extinguishing situation in forest and grasslands is severe and complex, and the fire is in a short-term concentrated outbreak. In April, a total of 40 forest fires occurred nationwide, mainly concentrated in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and other places; no grassland fires occurred nationwide.

6. Earthquake activities in mainland my country were relatively calm and did not cause obvious disaster losses

In April, no earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or above occurred in mainland my country; 6 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or above occurred, mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang, which weakened from the average level in the same period of previous years, and did not cause obvious disaster losses.

In addition, brown bears, wolves, wild boars and other wild animals attacked humans and livestock, destroyed family property, and ate crops in Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan and other places, causing more than 800 people to suffer from different degrees of disaster, one person died and one person injured, more than 150 livestock (only) died due to the disaster, and some pastoral tents were damaged, with direct economic losses of more than 1 million yuan.