1887 Yellow River flood

The 1887 Yellow River flood in Qing China began in September 1887 and killed at least 930,000 people. It was the single deadliest flood in China, making it one of the largest disasters in China by death toll.

History
For many centuries, farmers living near the Yellow River in China had built dikes to contain the rivers which flowed higher over time because they had to deposit their silt on the riverbed. In 1887, this rising river, swollen by days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes on around 28 September, causing a massive flood. Since there is no international unit to measure a flood's strength it is usually classified by the extent of the damage done, depth of the water, and the number of casualties.

The waters of the Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayuankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread very quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimated 50000 sqmi, swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the flood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly to the flood. It was one of the worst floods in history, though the later 1931 Yangtze-Huai River flood may have killed as many as four million. The highest estimated death toll is 2,000,000. The lowest estimated death toll was 900,000