Floods in China - What happened in Henan?

On the 20th and 21st, July 2021 the Chinese province Henan was hit by massive floods caused by heavy rainfalls the day before. The overloaded sewer system caused an increasing water level especially at the underground stations and trains of Zhengzhou. That's why 33 people have already died in the floods and hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes and go to places that are safe against the floods. The president of China, Xi Jinping, also announced financial aid for people who have to suffer material damages.

The floods - how heavy rainfalls are putting Chinese cities underwater

When China was hit by heavy rainfalls on the 20th and 21st of July 2021, especially in its province Henan and cities located there like Zhengzhou, were damaged very hard meaning 33 dead people and material damage of around 160 million euros, which probably will increase into the range of billion euros. In some cities like Zhengzhou many streets, subway systems, underground trains and buildings were set underwater, which makes the rescue much more difficult. That’s why the news is full of videos where people are locked in underground trains that are full of water. Also, a hospital must be evacuated, because the floods were coming very close. Meanwhile ca. 376.000 people have been brought to safer places to avoid damages by the dangerous floods reaching Henan. Furthermore, eight people are officially missing. Furthermore, eight people are officially missing.

The new problems - how extreme floods are hitting China multiple ways

With these massive floods, China gets confronted with new problems. For example, 200.000 hectares are flooded and in many cities, the sewer systems are overloaded which is why the water can’t drain away. Next to the dead and missing people, the material damage also important religious buildings of China like the Shaolin temple are damaged or at least threatened by the floods. Also, many wheat fields were destroyed by the floods which is a big problem for China, because the wheat is needed and must now be imported. Another problem is the Guojiaju barrage that was damaged hardly and partly already broke which occurred new floods of water. Some state authorities are warning that the barrage could break completely which is a big danger for the region around it.

The help - how China’s president Xi Jinping wants to help the Chinese people

Shortly after the floods China’s president Xi Jinping communicated with the media and said that “saving lives” has the highest priority. Furthermore, he assured the affected people a financial aid of 13 million euros. Whether this is enough to help everyone isn’t clear yet, but facing the huge graveyards of destroyed cars in cities like Zhengzhou makes most people feel like more aid will be needed. Some people are already questioning how to deal with disasters like this in the long run. The amount of rain that fell in these two days was as high as the amount of rain that normally falls in a year. Maybe this disaster can help some people realize how to change things in energy, infrastructure and politics to solve this problem in multiple ways.

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