1931 China floods 1931 China floods The 1931 China floods or the 1931 Yangtze-Huai River floods were a series of devastating floods that occurred in the Republic of China. They were some of the deadliest floods in history, and together formed one of the most lethal natural disasters of the 20th century, excluding pandemics and famines. Estimates of the total death toll range from 422,499 to between 3.7 million and 4 million. From 1928 to 1930, China was afflicted by a long drought. The subsequent winter of 1930 was particularly harsh, creating large deposits of snow and ice in mountainous areas. Early in
1642 Yellow River flood in the hopes of using the floodwaters to break the six-month siege the city had endured from the peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng. The dikes were burst but the water destroyed Kaifeng. Over 300,000 of the 378,000 residents were killed by the flood and ensuing peripheral disasters such as famine and plague. If treated as a natural disaster, it would be one of the most deadly floods in history. After this disaster the city was abandoned until 1662 when it was rebuilt under the rule of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty. It remained a rural backwater city