1954 Yangtze River Floods

1954 Yangtze River Floods

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.

Casualties

Partly as a result of this flood, the pressure to build a new dam, the Three Gorges Dam, in the upper reach of Yangtze river, gained considerable momentum.

Commemoration

In 1969, a large stone monument was erected in the riverside park in Hankou (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: [ [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99262571 "Inscription on the triumph of the people of Wuhan over the flood"] , in: The Writings of Mao Zedong, 1949-1976. Book by Michael Y. M. Kau, John K. Leung, Tse-tung Mao; M. E. Sharpe, 1986. 778 pgs. Page 511.] Below, is his poem "Swimming" [ [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/poems/poems23.htm "Swimming" by Mao Zedong] ] (1956), envisioning future bridge and dam construction on the Yangtze.

Comparison

Compared to the 1998 Yangtze River Floods, 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.

ee also

* 1998 Yangtze River Floods

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Yangtze River — Coordinates: 31°23′37″N 121°58′59″E / 31.39361°N 121.98306°E / 31.39361; 121.98306 …   Wikipedia

  • Yangtze River — Chinese Chang Jiang or Ch ang Chiang River, China. Rising in the eastern Kunlun Mountains in western China, it flows southeast, continuing east across Yunnan province and then across the rest of south central China to the East China Sea near… …   Universalium

  • river — river1 riverless, adj. riverlike, adj. /riv euhr/, n. 1. a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels. 2. a similar stream of something other than water: a… …   Universalium

  • List of floods — By Chronology Note:This is in reverse chronological order. 2000s* The 2008 Indian floods are currently affecting Kosi Basin in Bihar and adjoining Nepal,Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. * The 2007 Africa Floods is reported to be one of the largest …   Wikipedia

  • Mississippi River — For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). Coordinates: 29°09′04″N 89°15′12″W / 29.15111°N 89.25333°W / …   Wikipedia

  • Three Gorges Dam — Three Gorges Dam …   Wikipedia

  • Wuhan — For the brand of cymbal, see Wuhan cymbals. Wuhan 武汉   Sub provincial city   武汉市 …   Wikipedia

  • Hubei — Infobox PRC province ChineseName = 湖北省 Pinyin = Húběi Shěng EnglishName = Hubei Province Name = Hubei Abbreviation = 鄂 AbbrevPinyin = È ISOAbbrev = 42 MapSize = 275px OriginOfName = 湖 hú lake 北 běi north north of Lake Dongting AdministrationType …   Wikipedia

  • Jingzhou — For other uses, see Jingzhou (disambiguation). Jingzhou 荆州   Prefecture level city   荊州市 …   Wikipedia

  • Ухань — 武汉 Страна КНР Статус город субпровинциального значения Входит в провинцию Хубэй Включает 13 районов …   Википедия

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”