1887 Yellow River flood

History

For many centuries, farmers living near the Yellow River, China had built dikes to contain the river which flowed higher over time because of silt deposition on the riverbed. In 1887, this rising river, swollen by days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes on or around September 28, causing a massive flood. Since there is no international unit to measure a flood's strength, it is usually classified by the extent of the damage done, depth of the water, and the number of casualties.

The water of the Yellow River is generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayuankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread very quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimated 50,000 square miles (130,000 km²), swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the flood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly to the flood. It was one of the worst floods in history, though the later 1931 Yangtze-Huai River flood may have killed as many as four million. The highest estimated death toll is 2,000,000. The lowest estimated death toll was 900,000.