Huang He floods, (1887, 1931, 1938), series of devastating floods in China caused by the overflowing of the Huang He (Yellow River), the country’s second longest river. These three floods collectively killed millions and are considered to be the three deadliest floods in history and among the most destructive natural disasters ever recorded.
The Huang He, which has a length of 3,395 miles (5,464 km), is the main river of northern China, rising in the eastern Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai province in the west of the country and flowing generally east until it empties into the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli), an embayment of the Yellow Sea. The river takes its name from the large amounts of fine yellow sediment (loess) colouring its water. The extensive silt deposition in the river’s lower reaches across the North China.
The most destructive of these floods occurred in August 1931, when 34,000 square miles (88,000 square km) of land were completely inundated, and approximately 8,000 square miles (21,000 square km) more were partially flooded, leaving 80 million people homeless. The estimates of the number of people killed by the flood (and the ensuing disease and famine) range from 850,000 to 4,000,000, making it by most estimates the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.
