6 million without water in China drought, $2 billion in farm losses BEIJING, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A drought has left nearly 6 million people without water in 13 provincial-level areas in China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported Monday. About 4.3 million of the 5.95 million people affected by the drought, which has continued since mid-June reside in Guizhou and Hunan provinces, the ministry said. More than 4 million people were in need of government assistance, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Monday. The report said the drought has caused direct economic losses of 12.1 billion yuan ($1.98 billion) and affected 2.09 million hectares (5,164,502 acres) of farmland, leaving 350,00 hectares (864,868 acres) a total loss.