1931 China Floods

The 1931 Chinese floods — a series of floods on the Yellow, Yangtze, and Huai rivers between June and August 1931 — killed between 1 million and 4 million people, making them the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history. Entire provinces were inundated for months, destroying crops and causing famine and disease that killed far more than the initial floods. The disaster weakened the Nationalist government and contributed to political instability that Communist forces exploited.