Reconstruction of flood disaster process in Haihe River drainage area in 1917
Ma Yaling1, Wan Jinhong2,Ye Yu1,3,Fang Xiuqi1,4
1 School of Geography，Beijing Normal University，Beijing 100875 2 Institute of History of Water Conservancy，China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research，Beijing 100048 3 Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Natural Disaster，Ministry of Education，BNU，Beijing 100875 4 Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research，Chinese Academy of Sciences，Beijing 100101
Abstract Flood is always one of the main natural disasters in China. Based on historical documents and hydrological observation data，a flood of Haihe River drainage area in 1917 was reconstructed，including weather process，hydrological process and disaster situation. Results are as follows: (1) The process of flood is composed of typhoon, heavy rainfall, flash floods or avulsion, being inundated and flood disaster. (2) Heavy rainfall began from 20th to 28th in July caused by two typhoons，along with Yanshan and Taihang Mountains. Another two typhoons in September made the disaster more serious than before. (3) All branches of the Haihe River started swelling and burst in the middle of July. Water levels stabilized and declined in the middle of September when rainfall in the upper and middle Haihe River ended. Flood began to recede after October. However，the impact of floods had been lasting to 1918. (4) A total of 156 counties， affected by floods in 1917， mainly distributed in the north branches, especially the south branches of Haihe River. The farmland area affected with more than fifty percent mainly concentrated along the Haihe channel and the South Canal，as well as in the low-lying areas like Wen'an County in Hebei Province.
