The 1931 China floods were a series of devastating floods along the Yangtze, Huai and Yellow rivers, among the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. They followed a drought in the late 1920s and then unusually heavy snowmelt and summer rains, and the river waters inundated vast areas of central China, including the city of Wuhan, for weeks or months. Millions of people lost their homes, and most deaths came from famine and disease in the aftermath; estimates of the total range from hundreds of thousands to several million. The Nationalist government, preoccupied with warlords and the Communists, struggled to respond, and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 added to the hardship. The disaster led to new flood-control and relief efforts.
Before and after
- 14 October 1930Birth of Mobutu Sese Seko
- 31 October 1930Birth of Michael Collins
- 16 November 1930Birth of Chinua Achebe
- 3 December 1930Birth of Jean-Luc Godard
- 19311931 China floods
- 1931Big Bang theory proposed
- 1931Founding of Porsche
- 1931Construction of White Sea – Baltic Canal
- 1931Kurt Godel proves his incompleteness theorems
More in Earth & climate
- 8 July 1916Establishment of Acadia National Park
- 3 December 1922Establishment of Gran Paradiso National Park
- 26 February 1929Establishment of Grand Teton National Park
- 16 January 1935Establishment of Rapa Nui National Park
- 1936Establishment of Jim Corbett National Park
- 10 January 1939Establishment of Iguaçu National Park
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.