In the summer of 1991, continuous, heavy rainfall in Eastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

caused rivers and water loggings to overflow and flood the area, leading to the Chinese government requesting international aid.

Background

Large amounts of rainfall beginning on 18 May quickly led areas of eastern China to begin overflowing with water; however, flooding reports in the area had begun to be officially addressed around late June. Specifically, the

Huai The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

, Chu, and

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

rivers are credited with the main flooding that resulted in the

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

, and

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

provinces taking the most damage. The Chinese government initially sent out soldiers and troops to help with evacuation and flood relief efforts, but with the number of homes and acres of crops destroyed increasing steadily, the Chinese government turned to other countries, requesting for aid in flood relief. On September 3, 1991, the UN Department of Human Affairs (now known as the

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

) announced that the death toll was 556 in the

province, 260 in the

province, and 94 in the

province. In late January of the next year, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

reported that the death toll was approximately 3,000.

References

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

1991 floods 1991 disasters in China May 1991 events in Asia June 1991 events in Asia July 1991 events in Asia History of Anhui History of Jiangsu History of Henan {{china-hist-stub