Typhoon Rain Overwhelmed Banqiao and a Network of Dams

1. Dam Construction

Starting in the early 1950s, three major reservoirs including Banqiao were constructed in Zhumadian under Soviet guidance. The project aimed to prevent flooding and provide irrigation and electricity generation. Planners prioritized water storage capacity over flood prevention capabilities. Hydrological data was lacking during the initial design phase.

Renovations later led locals to dub the Banqiao dam invincible.

2. Great Leap Forward

During the subsequent Great Leap Forward campaign, over one hundred additional dams were constructed rapidly in the region. Guidelines emphasized retaining as much water as possible as a revolutionary goal. Intensive steel production and agricultural programs severely damaged regional forest cover and caused land degradation. Experts later identified this environmental damage as a major contributing factor to subsequent flooding.

Chief engineer Chen Xing was criticized and removed for opposing these policies.

3. Typhoon Nina Strikes

In August 1975, Typhoon Nina made landfall and stalled over Henan province, dropping exceptionally heavy rain. In Queshan County, 1,100 millimeters of rain fell over a three-day period. Smaller reservoirs rapidly reached their storage limits by August 5. Communication lines began failing as local switchboards flooded.

Dam control offices lost contact with upstream rainfall stations.

4. Communication Failures

Requests to open the dam sluice gates were delayed due to downstream flooding concerns and broken communication lines. Operators faced sedimentation blockages that hindered water outflow. Local officials held emergency meetings but lacked explosives or proper equipment to speed up drainage. Evacuation notices reached some downstream areas late while missing others entirely.

Military units stationed at the dam sent urgent failure warnings.

5. Dam Collapse

On August 8, water crested above the wave protection wall on the Banqiao Dam, causing it to fail. The collapse released hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water in hours. A massive flood wave rushed onto the plains below, wiping out communities and creating temporary lakes across thousands of square kilometers. Sixty-two total dams failed during the same severe storm.

Floodwaters cut major transportation arteries including the Jingguang Railway.

6. Widespread Inundation

Floodwaters inundated multiple county seats and vast expanses of countryside. Tens of thousands of People's Liberation Army troops deployed for disaster relief, but communications remained severely disrupted. Trapped survivors relied on food airdrops, though many supplies landed in the water. Officials authorized blowing up sluice gates to redirect water and protect other threatened areas.

Anhydrous conditions and blocked access left millions stranded without aid.

7. Disease and Famine

In the aftermath of the receding floodwaters, survivors faced severe epidemics and famine. Thousands of residents required medical treatment for dysentery, typhoid fever, hepatitis, and trauma. Rotting corpses remained widespread across the affected counties weeks after the disaster. The Zhumadian government appealed nationwide for financial donations and medical assistance.

Economic damages to the region totaled billions of yuan.

8. Government Cover-Up

Following the disaster, the Chinese government imposed a strict silence and barred media reporting on the dam failures. Official details remained concealed for decades while journalists and experts privately documented the causes. A book published in the 1990s revealed initial details to the public with backing from former water resources officials.

Official documents concerning the disaster were formally declassified in 2005.

9. Casualty Estimates

The disaster killed people in the initial flooding and during the later disruption of food supplies and health services. Published totals vary because accounts use different categories and estimates for those later deaths. The direct flood toll and a broader disaster toll therefore cannot be treated as interchangeable counts of the same event.

Different estimates include different parts of the disaster’s aftermath.

10. Official Assessment

The dam was rebuilt and returned to use years after the 1975 failure. Accounts of the disaster distinguished deaths from the flooding from later deaths associated with the wider emergency, producing different overall estimates. The exact total should therefore not be presented as one uncontested count. Typhoon Nina’s rainfall and failures across the dam network were documented parts of the event examined afterward.

The flood and the later emergency produced differing death estimates.

Sources

• Original narrative adaptation — CC BY-SA 4.0
• Wikipedia contributors — 1975 Banqiao Dam failure (CC BY-SA 4.0)