BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- China has improved its disaster response by building an emergency supplies network, but disaster relief efforts by the government still struggle to meet people's diverse needs, said a senior official from the country's top disaster relief department.

"We can distribute tents, food, drinking water, clothes and quilts to people affected in 12 hours or less after a natural disaster takes place," Li Baojun, deputy head of the office of the National Commission for Disaster Reduction, told China Daily ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction on Sunday.

He said China has established a four-tier disaster relief material storage network: 18 central-level disaster relief material bases in transport hubs nationwide, all provincial capitals, some 93 percent of cities and 80 counties have set up warehouses for disaster response in their regions.

From January to September, natural disasters claimed more than 1,700 lives and affected some 376 million people. Direct economic losses reached 517 billion yuan ($84.5 billion).

The latest major disaster occurred in eastern China's Zhejiang province, which has been savaged by Typhoon Fitow since Oct 7. By early Sunday morning, seven people were dead and two missing, and 6,700 buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Some 1.24 million people were relocated to temporary shelters.

An official named Zhang, who is in charge of relief material management in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said on Sunday that local governments usually take a leading role in disaster relief while the central government provides funds and materials if needed.

However, the government in Yuyao, the area worst hit by heavy rains in Zhejiang, has been criticized by netizens for not doing enough to relieve the woes caused by Typhoon Fitow. Many trapped in the flood ran out of food and clean water for a few days.