1931 China Floods Facts: The Natural Disaster That Wreaked Havoc

Regular inundation had long been an integral feature of the ecology of Yangtze (the longest river in Asia), yet this flood was a major catastrophe.

This disaster had a wide range of interesting thoughts, beliefs, and norms associated with it. Some locals believed that an angry dragon king had caused the flood.

One of the most lethal floods in humanity's history, this flood brings together different subjects, including China's cultural, social, and disaster history, and the scope of improvement that the government and people, in general, must pay heed to.

In China, the Yangtze-Huai river flood or yellow river flood lasted from June to August 1931. It mainly affected the cities of Wuhan, Nanjing, and some others and finally culminated in a dike breach along the lake of Gaoyou on August 25, 1931. Flooding was and still remains an unavoidable problem in China during the summer, causing disturbances at the banks of rivers and coastal areas.

It can be said without a doubt that 90 years ago, arguably the most horrifying natural disaster of the century took place. To date, there has not been another flood as monstrous and devasting as the Yangtze river flood, 1931.

Know more such intriguing facts about the deadliest flood ever witnessed in which China suffered a loss of millions of lives in the area of central China and eastern China in Wuhan and Nanjing. Keep reading further to know what led to this horrific natural disaster and much more.

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Facts About The 1931 Flood In China

The Yangtze River is known as the longest river in Asia; it is also one of the major waterways in the world.

Its origin is at 16,400 ft (4,998.7 m) in the plateau of Tibet, and it then moves eastward until it pours itself into the major delta system on the east China sea. So, the flood region covered by it is downstream of the Three Gorges Dam.

Whenever the lower Yangtze basin has gone through consistent, heavy rainfall, the consequences have always been a disaster as flooding is the outcome. In 1931, the Chinese saw floods covering more than 30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), killing thousands and causing massive destruction in their wake.

Many of the lakes that once acted as flood control in the region were cut off from the river by levees, while others were converted into farming lands. Deforestation added insult to injury, reducing the capacity of the area to handle intense rainfall, which was partly responsible for the vast death toll.

All of this collectively contributed to causing the yellow river flood.

Facts About Damage Caused By The 1931 Flood

The Ministry of Civil Affairs with the Government of China estimated that 25 million people had been affected by the flood.

Some historians account that the actual number was more than 53 million in central China itself. The Communist Party, after the Republican Era, accounted that 150,000 people had drowned at the very least in the first few months of the flood. The official report claimed two million people died due to the flood, lack of food, and other consequences.

Hundreds and thousands of others that haven't been accounted for may have died from the lack of food, shock, and other diseases these Chinese communities went through over the following years.

The floods destroyed wheat and rice crops of around 15% of the croplands, with the proportion being much higher in the highly affected areas - leading to economic shock as prices shot up rapidly while most incomes ceased.

Facts About The After Effects Of The 1931 Flood

The effects of flooding in China were no less than a horror show. A big portion of a country with such a large population was underwater, with flood-waters severely affecting the Chinese communities.

Those who survived the initial hazards of one of the deadliest floods of recorded history witnessed by humankind were hit by the following subsistence crisis.

Food was washed away by the floods, and the shortage of fresh water played a major role in the following subsistence crises, along with the other socioeconomic factors.

The Yangtze River flood resulted in famine, malnutrition, and widespread disease in the rural communities. So many people lost their homes that upwards of 60% of the total population were forced to become refugees.

When floodwater coursed into the city of central China - Wuhan - the sanitation system was destroyed, and refugees crowding into a limited area of dry land witnessed conditions such as measles and typhoid.

It can very well be said that China indeed saw its worst times during this period.

Facts About Rehabilitation After The 1931 Flood

Chinese history witnessed many natural disasters; however, the 1931 floods were one of the major tests for the Nanjing Government.

The government established the NFRC (National Flood Relief Commission) under Song Ziwen, a prominent politician in China.

The floods also elicited generous charitable responses on national and international levels. These provided funds to provide relief efforts in intensively flooded areas.

In the aftermath, the country established a monumental labor relief project, in which more than one million workers were employed to reconstruct nearly 1,242 mi (2,000 km) of dykes in all of the first half of 1932.

The survival of people was much more complicated than just not having drowned. It involved numerous efforts and strategies. For example, the refugees who moved to cities earned money by renting out their family sampans as water taxis during relief efforts.

Did You Know

Chang Jiang River in eastern and central China has not only once but repeatedly caused a large amount of destruction of property and life.

Among the most recent floods which affected china occurred in 1870, 1931, 1954, 1998, and 2010.

Flooding in central China has had fatal effects; the central China floods of 1931 were one of the worst floods witnessed by humankind. Apart from human lives and damage to property, they also harmed wildlife, destroyed their habitat, and also causing a great loss of aquatic life.

The soil and land quality of the area that is affected by floods deteriorates as floods cause sedimentation and erosion of the riverbank. This causes them to collapse when hit by the water, hence also affecting the overall water quality leading to harmful water plant growth and harm to aquatic life.

The health of the people living in flood-stricken areas is affected beyond just drowning as floods often lead to the outbreak of contagious and water-borne diseases such as cholera, which can become monstrous within days.

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