On October 9, the Gansu Provincial Government’s Information Office hosted a press conference to unveil a newly completed comprehensive natural disaster risk database, a project that took four years to develop. This provincial-level database encompasses all facets of disaster risk, including hazardous events, exposure, vulnerability, and the impact of disasters, allowing for the collection, integration, and sharing of provincial data.
The database integrates survey data and assessments from eight crucial sectors: emergency management, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, transportation, water conservancy, forestry and grasslands, meteorology, and seismology. It boasts over 10.2 million data entries, creating an extensive dataset complemented by relevant maps.
“Given Gansu’s elongated geography, the province is particularly vulnerable to meteorological disasters, which can significantly impact various sectors,” said Yang Qiguo, Deputy Director of the Gansu Meteorological Bureau. He elaborated that the bureau has conducted an analysis of the contributing factors behind nine major meteorological disasters—including droughts, high temperatures, heavy rains, hail, strong winds, snow disasters, sandstorms, and lightning—spanning from 1978 to 2020. In total, they reviewed and analyzed over 310,000 data entries related to these disaster factors, leading to the establishment of a categorized, regional, and hierarchical meteorological disaster risk database.
Geological disasters also pose a major threat in Gansu. He Xiaodong, Director of the Geological Exploration Management Department of the Gansu Natural Resources Department, pointed out that as of August 2024, Gansu had identified 21,897 geological disaster risk points, endangering a population of 2.2253 million and representing financial assets valued at 111.691 billion RMB.
