Due to climate change, extreme weather events, such as floods, are occurring more frequently and intensely. Floods in China are increasing dramatically. They have already caused significant economic damage and numerous deaths in recent years. To address this, the Chinese have developed strategies to mitigate these deadly floods. Furthermore, it is important to understand the broader context of flooding and how it relates to other natural phenomena.
Therefore, we're going to dedicate this article to telling you everything you need to know about the floods in China, the damage they cause, and the measures and strategies implemented by the government.
Floods in China
China's astonishing urbanization in recent decades, combined with its unique geological and climatic characteristics, has created a deadly mix of urban flooding that causes millions of casualties, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and enormous economic losses. A number of measures have been implemented to address these floods. What are they, and what have their results been? The following article examines how these natural phenomena have impacted natural disasters throughout history.
Since 1949, more than 50 major floods caused by storms, typhoons, or tidal surges have affected various regions of China , prompting an assessment of how flooding relates to the country's socioeconomic development. These events led the government to develop prevention plans to minimize human and material losses, while also considering the relationship between flooding and socioeconomic development.
History is generous when it comes to flood-related disasters. For example, in 1931, Wuhan was flooded for over 100 days, leaving over 780 people homeless and killing 000. Another catastrophic flood occurred in the Han River basin in 32, killing over 600 people and submerging the city of Ankang 1983 meters below sea level.
Since 2000, China has experienced major floods at least once every two years. Some of the most notorious cases include the floods of July 2003, when an unprecedented storm hit Nanjing, causing daily rainfall of over 309 mm—almost double the annual rainfall in central Chile—and hundreds of deaths, resulting in more than 1 million victims. In this context, it is crucial to assess how these remain a long-term challenge.
In July 2007, Chongqing and Jinan were hit by one of the worst storms in 100 years, killing 103 people, and in 2010, Sichuan left more than 800.000 people homeless and killed 150. Data shows that nearly 80% of floods occur not in rural areas, but in cities. This highlights the need to review water management strategies, issues closely related to water resource policies in China.
At this time, urbanization experts are well aware that modern cities are not strong enough to withstand heavy rains and say that a "moderate" disaster is likely to delay the development of a city for two decades.
Strategies to avoid floods in China
Urban flooding generally causes more damage and affects more people, and the damage and casualties are proportional to the city's growth rate. Therefore, the risks increase each year as urbanization progresses, which is even more concerning if it can be tolerated. It jeopardizes the entire socioeconomic stability of regions inhabited by tens or hundreds of millions of people.
To put an end to this tragic story, in 2003, China's Ministry of Water Resources proposed that the central government take action, resulting in a shift from an ineffective flood control policy to a flood containment policy. In this context, important preventive measures have been implemented in many areas.
This has led to the regulation of productive activities in the flood zone, the development of prevention plans and a series of measures to guarantee the safety of the masses. However, it is estimated that 355 of the 642 cities where flood control is the main task -55% - use flood control standards lower than those established by the central government.
In recent years, China has introduced the concept of "risk management" and proposed new policies. Therefore, to shift from relying on structural measures to reduce flood damage to a balance between structural and non-structural measures, the Ministry of Water Resources developed a National Flood Management Strategy in 2005. This approach is in line with global trends toward better water resource management.
The so-called “China Flood Control Strategy” can be described simply as: the Chinese government decides on flood control based on risk, emphasizing non-structural measures, especially administrative, economic, technological and educational ones (such as centralized decision-making systems, prevention systems, disaster mitigation plans and flood control insurance) and facilitating the implementation of plans to implement structural measures, such as strengthening dikes, regulating river levels and building reservoirs , to achieve full and long-term benefits.
Important points
The three strategic tasks of flood 'management' are:
- Build water conservation projects to reduce disasters effectively. The gigantic Three Gorges Dam project stands out in this project.
- Control human activities to mitigate flood damage in the productive sector.
- Better use of flood water and use of remaining water resources.
To implement this plan, the Chinese government has identified the core of support for scientific and technological progress, ensuring adequate funding and socializing disaster reduction. Finally, using the inevitable urban floods to address water scarcity caused by rapid urbanization is a good example of China's strategy of not only seeking to minimize floods and their negative impacts, but also seeking to profit from these true natural disasters.
Senator Alejandro Navarro said that Chile must follow the example of China, “understood that it must anticipate the forces of nature through a complete strategy that, in addition to building dams and other works, pays attention to educating the population and implemented plans mitigation and other measures. »
The parliamentarian added: “Flooding isn’t expected here, and there’s ample evidence of that, such as what happened in the Papen Canal a few months ago, where nothing was done to control the water . The rains caused the canal to flood and killed hundreds of people. First, the State must compensate the families and then implement a strategy to prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening again,” he concluded.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the floods in China and the strategies and damages carried out.