Natural disasters in China in May left 157 people dead and 22 missing, and caused about 45.17 billion yuan (US$6.61 billion) in direct economic losses, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Wednesday.

Disasters, including floods, storms, landslides, droughts, snowfalls, freezing temperatures and earthquakes, caused the evacuation of 842,000 residents and affected the lives of more than 64.57 million people, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Natural disasters hit 5.17 million hectares of farmland in May, destroying about 956,000 hectares of crops, it said.

The damage caused by natural disasters in May was much more severe than in previous years.

Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Chongqing were the provincial-level regions worst hit by natural disasters, according to the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2010)