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20th Century’s Deadliest Disasters

Khalid Elhassan October 26, 2020 32 min

1976 Tangshan earthquake - Tangshan — A bridge destroyed by the Tangshan Earthquake. China Underground

17. Of All of History’s Tragic Natural Disasters, None Were Deadlier Than the 1931 Central China Floods

The 1931 Central China Floods. Thing Link

The 1887 Yellow River Flood was just as deadly as it was tragic. However, even with its estimated 900,000 fatalities, the 1887 Yellow River Flood was “only” history’s second deadliest natural disaster. Its death toll was eclipsed by yet another tragic Chinese riverine calamity: the 1931 Central China Flood.

Flooding in Hankou, China, September 1931. U Need 2 KNow

That year, the Yangtze and Huai rivers experienced disastrous flooding that submerged about 70,000 square miles. That is an area as big as England, plus half of Scotland tossed in. 53 million people were impacted, and up to 4 million were killed in the catastrophe.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.