![]() Earlier, one of the important tests of good rulers was their ability to protect their citizens from the ravages of floods. In tenth place is the flood of June to July 1996 which caused 2,775 deaths and economic damage of $19 billion in 2014 USD.įlooding has been a perennial and recurrent problem in China. It caused 829 deaths and losses of $31.1 billion in 2014 USD. The sixth most costly global flood was also in China, during July to August 2010. Equally, because of population density, all three Chinese floods resulted in high fatalities compared to the other seven floods elsewhere where deaths were in the hundreds.Īt global ranking number two is the July-August flood of 1998, which resulted in 3,656 deaths and an economic loss of $43.7 billion in 2014 USD. However, the country which has the potential to disrupt the global supply chains the most because of floods is China, followed by Brazil, Russia, and India.īecause of topography, high population, urbanisation and tremendous economic growth during the past decades, China has had three of the ten most costly global floods since 1950. The 2011 flood in Thailand first brought this problem to global attention. These losses do not include disruptions to global supply chains when industries located in flood plains are affected by floods. The country incurring the highest losses is China, followed by the USA and India. According to the United Nations, over the 20-year period between 19, 157,000 people died due to floods and another 2.3 billion were affected.Ĭurrently, global average annual flood losses are estimated at $104 billion. It is a little-known fact among the general public and politicians that floods cause more damage each year globally than any other form of natural disaster. The site has seen the excavation of large sacrificial sites, a large number of exquisite jade articles and mass produced red pottery cups.With China in the midst of one of its worst flood episodes in history Asit K Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada look at the significant social and economic costs of floods, and what can be done about them. "It suggests that the people of Shijiahe had very advanced ideas on water conservancy and were adept at using rivers to support their production and lives," said Fang.Īrchaeologists believe that Shijiahe is among the largest and most enduring prehistoric cities in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. ![]() It is speculated that the main outfall could quickly discharge water in times of heavy rain or flood, while the smaller drain facilitated daily drainage that ensured sufficient water was available for downstream use, such as irrigating rice paddies. ![]() ![]() One dam had a "Y"-shaped drainage system, consisting of two outfalls. These dams were likely built to reduce floods and store water for the city's residents and farmers, Fang said. The 300-hectare city in central China was surrounded by a moat formed from rivers that once passed through or bypassed the city, said Fang Qin, head of Hubei provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology.Ī new round of excavation, which began last year during a severe drought that dried up local rivers and ditches, uncovered two dams in the ancient river-moat system. The system of dams, a moat and irrigation facilities was discovered at the site of Shijiahe, the ruins of a prehistoric city in Hubei Province. A 5,000-year-old city in central China was found to have a water conservancy system that effectively utilized rivers for irrigation and prevented flooding with the use of dams, archaeologists have said. ![]()
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