The 1931 Yellow River flood (Huang He flood) is generally thought to be the deadliest natural disaster of historic times, and almost certainly of the twentieth century (when pandemics are discounted). The Yellow River or Huang He has been prone to flooding due to the broad expanse of almost flat land around it. The 1887 Yellow River flood had already devastated the area, killing 900,000-2,000,000 people. Estimates of the number of people killed in the 1931 flooding range from 850,000 to 4,000,000. Deaths caused by the flooding include but are not limited to drowning, disease, ensuing famines, and droughts.

Later in the same month, the Yangtze also flooded.

1931 was the last natural flood of the river of this severity. In 1933, around 18,000 people were killed by less devastating, but still widespread flooding, while the 1938 Yellow River flood was caused by Chinese Kuomintang forces deliberately damaging levees in an attempt to disrupt Japanese advances in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

1931 | Yellow River floods