Natural disasters in China was expected in 1996. This yield was anticipated despite torrential summer rains throughout China that flooded 32,500 square kilometres (8 million acres) of cropland, caused thousands of deaths, left millions homeless, and cost billions of yuan in damage. The Yellow River crested at its highest recorded level, inspiring fears of a catastrophic dike breach. Nevertheless, over the past 50 years, natural disasters on average had reduced China's harvests by approximately 1% annually. Work proceeded on the world's largest flood-control and hydroelectric project, the controversial Three Gorges Dam on the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) above Yichang. Chinese planners were considering huge
Human response to disasters mass media to include newspapers, television, radio, and internet news. This is largely due to the way they portray disasters. In fact, most people base their opinions and beliefs regarding disasters and survivor behavior on what they see in the media. The media strives to keep their viewers’ and readers’ attention for as long as possible. Drama and destruction is interesting and compelling; most of everything else is secondary. For the most part, the media, regardless of country, takes a fairly standard approach to disaster coverage and reporting. Immediately after the disaster, they rely on statistics of destruction and damage