![]() Ten of millions of peasants were affected. When the river’s dikes were breached in 132 B.C., floods occurred in 16 districts and a new channel was opened in the middle of the plain. When the levees of the Yellow River break, which happens with some regularity, the countryside is devastated. In each channel silt slowly builds the riverbed above the surrounding landscape and gives the river its devastating habit of breaking its banks and changing course. The Yellow River flows in braided streams, a network of smaller channels that weave in and out of each other. About once a century these floods reach catastrophic levels. Floods sometimes occur when blocks of ice block the Yellow River. A flood in China in 1642 is estimated to have killed 300,000 people.Īrticles on NATURAL DISASTERS IN CHINA and LAND AND WEATHER OF CHINA Yellow River Floodsįrom time to time the Yellow River overflows its banks and fills huge plains with large amounts of water. Īccording to the Guinness Book of Records, the deadliest flood ever killed 900,000 people around the Yellow River in October 1887. Without trees, plants and bushes to absorb the water and hold the earth in place, water runs off quickly and causes flash floods and saturates slopes, causing landslides. The flood and landslide problems are often exacerbated by deforestation and erosion. China’s south and west experienced a seven-fold increase in heavy rains in the 2000s from what they experienced in the 1950s. A study in the journal Irrigation and Drainage in 2010, said one third of China's farmland, two-thirds of its people, more than 60 percent of its cities and 80 percent of its GDP were threatened by floods.Ĭhina is hit by heavy summer rainfalls every year. Flooding is common in China's mountainous areas and in the east and south. At one time round 500 people died from them Yunnan Province alone. Every year hundreds die in them during the June and July rainy season. Questions are turning to how China's bulging cities can better prepare for extreme weather.Īs the water retreated, slaking roads in mud, residents counted the financial cost in lost businesses and property-and attempted to mark the human tragedy which took place there.Floods are serious problems in China. ![]() The total losses across the province were almost double that amount.Įxperts say freak weather events-heavy floods and punishing droughts-are increasingly common due to climate change. Heavy downpours that began July 17 have affected over 14 million people, damaged thousands of homes, and caused economic losses in Zhengzhou estimated at 53 billion yuan ($8.2 billion). The disaster marked China's deadliest floods in a decade. She added that 39 bodies were recovered from underground car parks and other below-ground spaces. Scores were killed in Zhengzhou due to floods and mudslides, mayor Hou Hong told reporters while updating the overall toll. Images of passengers inundated by shoulder-height water went viral on Chinese social media on Line 5 of the city subway where 14 people died, while dozens of cars in a tunnel were tossed aside by the deluge, many with passengers still inside. Residents were trapped in subway carriages, underground car parks, and tunnels. Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province and the epicentre of the record flooding, was hardest hit with 292 people dead and 47 missing, the local government said at a press briefing.
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