1958 Yellow River flood

The 1958 Yellow River flood was an extraordinarily large rise in the water flow of the Yellow River in China that coincided with the onset of the Great Leap Forward. In July 1958, the peak discharge of the Yellow River at Huayuankou was 22,300 m3/s (790,000 cu ft/s) with a maximum sediment concentration of 911 kg/m3 (57 lb/cu ft), 14× and 24× their mean annual values, respectively.[1] The flood water level was so high that it rose up to the top of the levee in several places.[2]

Premier Zhou Enlai visits the Loukou Yellow River Railway Bridge in Jinan, Shandong, China during the flood on August 6th.

This flood affected 741,000 people, submerged over half a million acres of crops (3.04 million mu), and destroyed over 300,000 houses in 1708 villages.[3] It was reported as the most severe flood since 1933.

Details

During this flood, records were kept of torrential rains beginning on July 14, and by July 16 exceeding 100mm of rain per day, flooding more than 400km of the Yellow River and additionally several smaller rivers. Rain continued for more than two weeks, with flooding finally peaking on July 27.[4]

Time: July 1958; Location: Middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River; Disaster type: Flood; Disaster situation: Flood peak flow reached 22,300 cubic meters per second. The Beijing-Guangzhou railway bridge across the Yellow River was interrupted by flooding for 14 days. In the Yellow River beach area and Dongping Lake area of Shandong and Henan provinces alone, 1,708 villages were inundated, 740,800 people were affected, 3.04 million mu of cultivated land was inundated, and 300,000 houses collapsed. A thousand times: the Changyuan impoundment area is about to be used, and millions of Limin people are about to evacuate, and the water situation is changing sharply; Dongping Lake Hongtao jumps the embankment, Huayuankou dam foundation collapses, 2 million people go to the embankment to fight floods; the iron bridge is cut! [4]

From "July 20th to 18:00 on the 17th, the main rain areas are in the main stream of the Sanhua section and the middle and lower reaches of the Yi, Luo, and Qin Rivers, the middle and lower reaches of the Fen River, the Beiru River and Shahe River in the Huaihe River Basin, and the upper Tangbai River in the Han River. The intensity of the heavy rain was heavy, with 249 millimeters of rainfall in the center of the rainstorm."[4]

Containment

On July 27, the largest torrent of the flood was smoothly directed into the Bohai Sea, and the Chinese government claimed it to be a "victory over the flood".[5][4][6] The spokesperson of the Flood Prevention Center of Chinese government stated on July 27 that:[4]

This year we defeated this large flood without division of torrents or breaks on dams, which secures the big harvest of the crops. This is another miracle created by the Chinese people.

References
  1. Chen, Yunzhen; Syvitski, James P. M.; Gao, Shu; Overeem, Irina; Kettner, Albert J. (2012). "Socio-economic Impacts on Flooding: A 4000-Year History of the Yellow River, China". Ambio. 41 (7): 682–698. doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0290-5. ISSN 0044-7447. PMC 3472015. PMID 22673799.
  2. Zhang Hai-Lun and Wen Kang, Flood Control and Management for Large Rivers in China, presented at: Workshop on Strengthening Capacity in Participatory Planning and Management for Flood Mitigation and Preparedness in Large River Basins: Regional Cooperation in Flood Control and Management in Asia and the Pacific, Phase II, Bangkok, 20–23 November 2001
  3. "历史上的五次黄河水灾". newpaper.dahe.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  4. "1958年黄河大水灾纪实". newpaper.dahe.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  5. "关于黄河、长江、淮河、永定河防御特大洪水方案的报告（摘要）_中国人大网". www.npc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  6. "黄河防洪概述". politics.people.com.cn. 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-06-30. Retrieved 2020-04-23.


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