Natural disasters in China floods and landslides of all times; the top 5 all occurred in China. Estimated deaths in the 1931 China floods range between 2 million and 4 million, listed as the deadliest flood of all times, which is also the deadliest natural disasters of all times. The 1887 Yellow River flood ranked second in death toll in both flood and natural disaster, claiming lives of between 0.9 million to 2 million. The 1938 Yellow River flood was third, with 500,000–700,000 deaths. After a record grain harvest of 466 million metric tons in 1995, another record crop of 475 million metric tons
Flood control in the Netherlands system. In modern times, flood disasters coupled with technological developments have led to large construction works to reduce the influence of the sea and prevent future floods. The Greek geographer Pytheas noted of the Low Countries, as he passed them on his way to Heligoland around c. 325 BCE, that "more people died in the struggle against water than in the struggle against men". First-century Roman author Pliny wrote something similar in his "Natural History": There, twice in every twenty-four hours, the ocean's vast tide sweeps in a flood over a large stretch of land and hides Nature's everlasting controversy