China’s Ministry of Water Resources said on Monday that 25 “significant flood events” have been recorded on major rivers since the beginning of the annual flood season in late July.
This marked the highest number of floods recorded in a single season since China began keeping records in 1998.
Vice Minister of Water Resources Wang Bao’en noted that flood season will continue for several more weeks, but the “critical period” has passed.
The critical period in 2024 saw heavy rainfall in both northern and southern China, plus the massive rainfall event of Typhoon Gaemi, which dumped more than 216 billion cubic meters of rain on the southern part of the country in late July.
Gaemi was only the third most powerful typhoon to strike eastern China in 2024, but it was a massive rainmaker with a prolonged “tail” that lingered over areas that were already saturated from heavy July rain.
Wang said China’s annual rainfall is now about ten percent above its usual average, and river flood warnings are 120 percent more frequent than normal. Flash flooding and landslides struck many small towns, while larger cities experienced disasters such as a highway bridge collapsing in Shaanxi province.
The bridge collapse in Shaanxi dropped two dozen vehicles into a raging river, killing at least 38 people. Flood waters struck the bridge with such force that part of it was bent at a 90-degree angle. The disaster prompted criticism of the Chinese government for building bridges too quickly and cheaply as city populations swelled.
Ministry of Water Resources officials logged 3,683 river flood warnings and 81 mountain flood disaster alerts during the 2024 flooding season. Nearly 5,000 reservoirs were activated to divert flood waters.
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management issued an emergency response alert for the eastern coastal region of Guangdong province and southwest Liaoning province on Monday, as heavy rainstorms threatened to cause more flooding along swollen rivers.
China’s central bank announced that it would disburse $14 billion in loans to support rebuilding in flood-damaged areas. The Ministry of Emergency Management reported more than $10 billion in losses from natural disasters in July, one of the worst months on record.
Vice Premier Liu Guozheng urged local officials and agribusiness leaders to use rebuilding funds to improve disaster prevention and mitigation, drain accumulated floodwater to make farmland viable again, and replant crops in fields that floods destroyed.
International markets are watching China’s flood regions closely because damage to farmlands could thwart the record harvests Beijing demanded in 2024 as part of China’s march to food self-sufficiency. If the floods prevent Chinese farmers from hitting their quotas, larger food imports will be needed, which could significantly increase global food prices.
