BEIJING, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Officials in China say nearly 2 million people are short of drinking water in an ongoing drought in the country's southwest Guizhou province.
Provincial officials said rainfall since early July has been almost 70 percent less than normal and people in 84 of the province's cities and counties were suffering from a drinking water shortage, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Friday.
The drought has affected 2.5 million acres of crops and left 760,000 livestock short of drinking water, with economic losses of more than $923 million, Xinhua said.
Rainfall in August so far has also been less than average, the provincial weather bureau said.
The Guizhou civil affairs bureau said it had allocated funds to ensure drinking water supplies for local residents.
