KUNMING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Hailstorms, floods, mud-and-rock flows and other natural disasters claimed 101 lives and left 17 missing in southwest China's Yunnan Province in June and July, according to the provincial civil affairs bureau on Wednesday.

Disasters affected 5.97 million people, including 176 who were injured or fell ill, according to the bureau, in a review of disasters over the past two months.

Torrential rain and strong winds, hailstorms, floods and mud-and-rock flows destroyed 12,500 houses and damaged another 111,700 in Yunnan Province. A total of 3.77 million hectares of croplands were damaged and direct economic losses amounted to 3.07billion yuan (383.25 million US dollars).

Official statistics show that natural disasters affected more than 146.35 million people across China in July alone, leaving 987dead and 310 missing. Total losses stood at 68.8 billion yuan (8.6 billion US dollars).

The Ministry of Civil Affairs disaster relief department said serious flooding in river valleys was excluded from reports, although mountain torrents, landslides and mud-and-rock flows caused serious damage last month.

Typhoons Bilis and Kaemi triggered devastating floods, landslides and mud-and-rock flows in southeastern coastal regions last month, claiming 637 lives and leaving 210 missing.

Drought affected southwestern Chongqing Municipality, and Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and some northwestern and northern provinces and regions including Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia.

The China Meteorological Bureau (CMA) warned heavy rains in northeast China, most of Shandong Province and the south China coast could trigger flooding, mud-and-rock flows and landslides.

The CMA forecast that drought would continue in Gansu, Sichuan and Chongqing and high temperatures would affect most of China, which could affect production.

Two or three tropical storms or typhoons would hit China's coastal areas this month, said the CMA.

Typhoon Saomai, the eighth to hit China this year, is expected to make landfall later on Thursday between central Zhejiang and the northern coastal area of neighboring Fujian Province.

Another tropical storm, Bopha, 1,000 km behind Saomai, is moving westward toward China at a speed of 20 km per hour, according to the local meteorological observatory of Fujian.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has called on Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces to closely monitor and prepare for Saomai and Bopha. Enditem