1954 Yangtze River Floods
Encyclopedia
From June to September of 1954, the Yangtze River
Floods were a series of catastrophic floodings that occurred mostly in Hubei
Province. Due to unusually high volume of precipitation
as well as an extraordinarily long rainy season in the middle stretch of the Yangtze River late in the spring of 1954, the river started to rise above its usual level in around late June. Despite efforts to open three important flood gates to alleviate the rising water by diverting it, the flood level continued to rise until it hit the historic high of 44.67 m in Jingzhou
, Hubei
and 29.73 m in Wuhan
. The number of dead from this flood was estimated at around 33,000, including those who died of plague
in the aftermath of the disaster.
Partly as a result of this flood, the pressure to build new dams, the Gezhouba Dam
and the Three Gorges Dam
, in the upper reach of Yangtze river, gained considerable momentum.
(City of Wuhan
, Hubei
) honoring the heroic deeds in fighting the 1954 flood. Among the carvings on the monument is a calligraphic inscription by Mao Zedong
, dedicated to the people of Wuhan:
Below, is his poem "Swimming" (1956), envisioning future bridge and dam construction on the Yangtze:
On the sides of the monument's pedestal are reliefs depicting heroic people of Wuhan fighting the flood, raising banners and placards with quotations from Mao Zedong.
, this flooding was more severe in terms of total flow of water, but less in terms of the highest level that the flood water reaches. This is probably a result of the intense logging on the banks of the upper reach of Yangtze River during the later part of the 20th century.
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
Floods were a series of catastrophic floodings that occurred mostly in Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
Province. Due to unusually high volume of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
as well as an extraordinarily long rainy season in the middle stretch of the Yangtze River late in the spring of 1954, the river started to rise above its usual level in around late June. Despite efforts to open three important flood gates to alleviate the rising water by diverting it, the flood level continued to rise until it hit the historic high of 44.67 m in Jingzhou
Jingzhou
Jingzhou is a prefecture-level city in Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. The city is located on the banks of the Yangtze River.Its population is 5,691,707 at the 2010 census whom 1,154,086 in the built up area made of 3 urban districts.-Geography:Jingzhou occupies an area of...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
and 29.73 m in Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
. The number of dead from this flood was estimated at around 33,000, including those who died of plague
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
in the aftermath of the disaster.
Casualties
Gezhouba Dam
The Gezhouba Dam or Gezhouba Water Control Project on the Yangtze River is located in the western suburbs of Yichang City in central China's Hubei province. The dam sits a few kilometers upstream from downtown Yichang, just downstream of the fall of the Huangbo River into the Yangtze. Construction...
and the Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China...
, in the upper reach of Yangtze river, gained considerable momentum.
Commemoration
In 1969, a large stone monument was erected in the riverside park in HankouHankou
Hankou was one of the three cities whose merging formed modern-day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han falls into the Yangtze...
(City of Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
) honoring the heroic deeds in fighting the 1954 flood. Among the carvings on the monument is a calligraphic inscription by Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, dedicated to the people of Wuhan:
Below, is his poem "Swimming" (1956), envisioning future bridge and dam construction on the Yangtze:
On the sides of the monument's pedestal are reliefs depicting heroic people of Wuhan fighting the flood, raising banners and placards with quotations from Mao Zedong.
Comparison
Compared to the 1998 Yangtze River Floods1998 Yangtze River Floods
The 1998 Yangtze River floods was a major flood that lasted from middle of June to the beginning of September 1998 in the People's Republic of China at the Yangtze River.-Tolls:The event was considered the worst Northern China flood in 40 years...
, this flooding was more severe in terms of total flow of water, but less in terms of the highest level that the flood water reaches. This is probably a result of the intense logging on the banks of the upper reach of Yangtze River during the later part of the 20th century.