The floods in China are a global disaster

Glennbeck.com ^ | July 27, 2020 | Glenn Beck

[Heartlander]

The floods in China are a global disaster

You may not know it if you watch CNN or Fox News, but China is experiencing its worst flooding in over 100 years, and certainly the worst flooding it has experienced in the modern era since the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

Background

The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest Hydro-electric power station, completed along the Yangtze River basin in 2006, with additional power station construction and spillway added in 2012. The reservoir it creates is more than 410 miles long, and effectively creates the largest man-made reservoir in the history of the world. The Three Gorges Dam system includes the Dam itself, with its reservoir, power plant and boat locks, and then a series of upstream and downstream levees and dams that collectively make up the drainage and additional power generation plants for other towns and cities along the path of the Yangtze. Importantly, the drainage system downstream of the Three Gorges Dam includes both Wuhan and Shanghai, China.

At the time of its Construction, numerous engineers both in China and from around the world expressed concerns that since the focus of the 3 Gorges Dam project was power generation, insufficient attention was being paid toward flood control. The Yangtze is among the largest rivers in the world both by length and by volume, with only the Amazon River and Nile River producing greater volume of flow. The Yangtze and it's tributary system is also among the most flood-prone regions in the world, with historic floods that killed millions of Chinese. In 1931, a 4-month long flood disaster killed 3.7 Million people and displaced another 14 Million. Again in 1935, floods killed 137,000 people and destroyed entire cities, including Wuhan, China. Again in 1952, the Yangtze basin flooded along the Hubei province where Wuhan is located and killed another 33,000 from flooding plus another estimated 400,000 who later died of a plague (likely Swine Flu) that ravaged through after the floodwaters had receded.

Since the completion of the 3 Gorges Dam, the drainage basin of the Yangtze is also one of the largest food and grain production corridors in the world. Fully 20% of the world's supply of Corn, Maze and many fruits and vegetables are grown in the Yangtze flood basin. China is also the world's largest producer of Rice, Wheat, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peanuts, Tea, Millet, Barley, Cotton, Corn and Soybeans...with the bulk of these food crops grown in the Yangtze flood basin.

It is also the region of China where they ranch for Hogs, Beef, and, importantly Chicken. More than 30% of the world's supply of Chicken and Eggs are farmed in the drainage basin of the Yangtze River, all of this downstream from the 3 Gorges Dam.

Floods

2020 has proven to be one of the worst Asian Monsoon seasons in history. Rain totals are more than 200% above the past 11 year average in China, but they are not alone, with additional massive flooding striking Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and both North and South Korea. But while there have been deaths and dislocations in many places, none are as impacted as the 3 Gorges Dam region of China.

• The reservoir system that makes up the 3 Gorges Dam system passed flood stage some 6 weeks ago, and is now classified by China as a Level 2 (Level 1 being the worst and only reachable in the event the Dam's discharge system fails).
• China has had to destroy more than 2 dozen smaller dams and levees to let floodwaters into the drainage basin - namely, into the farmland, so as to attempt to spare cities downstream from catastrophic flooding.
• Official numbers out of China are difficult to come by, but estimates from the Taiwanese press indicate that as much as 50% of agriculturally developed lands along the Yangtze have endured some form of flooding in 2020. Millions of acres of agricultural land now sit under as much as 9 feet of floodwaters and will produce zero yield in 2020 and perhaps beyond.
• The 3 Gorges Dam itself is also in trouble. It had previously shown signs of 'Settling' and 'Buckling' that the Chinese Government had tried to dismiss as distortions in satellite images due to pixelation, but more recent photos also show further buckling in the key spillway section of the Dam, which is under the greatest pressure now as flood channels are kept wide open to prevent the Dam from being overstepped by floodwaters. Structural Engineers from the King's College in London recently issued a dire warning to the UN that they believe the Dam is on the verge of a catastrophic collapse that could place millions of lives at risk downstream.

Why This Could Be a Global Disaster

First is food security. China is not only the world's largest consumer of food (recall they have a population that is four-times greater than the US), but also the world's largest producer and supplier of food in terms of total output. And the primary food growing region of China is the Yangtze River basin and floodplain. We don't yet know the full extent of the damage to the global food supply from these floods, it's still an ongoing disaster where the focus is currently on saving human lives. But certainly, from the images, we have seen coming out of China, millions of acres of productive food-growing land has been rendered useless for the time being. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of livestock have been killed, including Hogs, Cattle, and Chickens. And hundreds of Warehouse buildings and silos that stored previously grown foods are also destroyed or inundated with water.

Secondly, this disaster comes directly on the heels of and in the same region as the COVID-19 Pandemic. The floodwaters that have now displaced hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of Chinese flow directly through the Hubei Province that was the site of the initial outbreak, including Wuhan City itself. Social distancing will now be impossible for the foreseeable future, and the risk of co-infections of other plagues like influenza are very real. And COVID-19 doesn't care about borders or humanitarian efforts. Any outbreak anywhere is a threat to everywhere else because of how easily the virus can be transmitted. But it is especially dangerous for a major outbreak to occur in China, because the world simply cannot trust the CCP to be forthright about what's happening so as to prevent the spread to other countries.

Third, if the 3 Gorges Dam does collapse, it threatens to kill millions of Chinese people downstream. More than 300 Million people live Downstream of the Yangtze Reservoir. A catastrophic collapse of the Dam, however horrible to consider, may well create the worst humanitarian disaster in world history, one that could completely remake the world economy and geopolitical map for generations to come.

And finally, it's key to note that the Asian Floods of 2020 are not localized to China alone. The existence of the 3 Gorges Dam may indeed make this the greatest risk area, but millions of additional acres of food production is also now offline in more than a dozen countries, and COVID-19 related health-safety measures are necessarily being abandon in the very real fight for basic human survival. It may be some months before we know the full extent of crop and animal production losses, but global food supplies are taking a major loss as we speak...and China's weather service just forecast another 10-12 inches of rain by Sunday this week.

What Should Americans Do?

First, please stay informed. There is so much coverage of COVID-19 here in the US, of Donald Trump, of Black Lives Matter, it can become easy to get lost in the cacophony. Find a news service that is providing good International coverage and do the work to keep yourself and your family informed.

Second, if you have the means (and MOST of us do) consider planting a small garden, even if you have to user planter boxes in a window ledge or UV lighting in a spare bedroom. If you can't physically plant a garden, be sure to do what you can to prepare for food security, with long-term and healthy food supplies. At least some extra canned goods, if not more professionally prepared long-term food storage, freeze-dried foods and meat that you store properly.

Finally, if I may be so bold to suggest that we all take a moment to pray. To thank our God for the blessing that we live here, in America, and to pray for the well-being and comfort to those being so dramatically impacted by the twin disasters now in China...the Natural Disaster that is a once per century Monsoon season, and the manmade disaster that is the Chinese Communist Party and its corruption that magnifies the natural disaster there into what threatens to become a global catastrophe.

[wbarmy]

China is still going into the homes of Christians, ripping crosses and other religious artwork of their walls, and replacing with pictures of Mao and Xi, telling the Christians to pray to them instead of Jesus. They are also stopping welfare and food payments to these same Christians, telling them to starve unless they pray to Mao and Xi as gods. Additionally, they are beginning to take their children and giving them to non-Christians to raise. Exactly like a Chick pamphlet.

What is happening now seems to me, to be like the builder of the Titanic stating “that even God could not sink this ship”. China might get exactly what they are asking for. Let’s see their gods Mao or Xi fix this.

[gasport]

Cranberry hibiscus (Zone 8 and higher) grows like a weed in beds or boxes. Delicious on a sandwich like lettuce or pan grilled in butter with garlic, onions, etc.

[SkyDancer]

Really? It’s pretty dry here, temps in the 90’s and very sunny.

[Starboard]

The CCP is evil and the more they fail the odds of them being removed by Chinese citizens increases.

**************

How do you remove the people who have an iron fisted control over the military and virtually everything else in the country? You can’t vote them out of power and you can’t force them to abandon it.

[hanamizu]

If it breaks, I don’t think it will be just China. And how will they respond?

---

By ‘they’ do you mean the CCP or the Chinese people? If it breaks it will be one of the greatest disasters in human history. By its very size, China has had many of those in its history. Between the destruction and the aftermath, who knows? Will they lash out? How? Why? If the people are starving, a war won’t fill their stomachs or ease their misery or for that fact make things better. In any case, we are living in interesting times.

[Starcitizen]

Chuck Fina.

At least 97 million filthy Chinese Communist Party members need to die a horrible death.

[Gene Eric]

Good thing I’m filling my vehicles with 10% corn.

[Candor7]

The floods in China are a global disaster>>>>>

Not really. These floods are poetic justice.

And a blessing for America in that it is an opportunity for our country to establish alternate lines of suppl;y for drugs and other manufactured goods formerly “made in china.”

Maybe the People of China will rise up against their commie masters and establish a genuine Republican Democracy.The glory days of Communist China are over ever since they exported the China Virus to the rest of the world.

[Starboard]

What is happening now seems to me, to be like the builder of the Titanic stating “that even God could not sink this ship”.

**************

My thought as well. Hubris has a way of inviting disaster.

[Lazamataz]

Second, if you have the means (and MOST of us do) consider planting a small garden, even if you have to user planter boxes in a window ledge or UV lighting in a spare bedroom.

Greeeaaaatttt. Kill your plants and get skin cancer.

[cuban leaf]

I mean the CCP. I’m a bit concerned about a desperate government doing desperate things. War type things.

[stinkerpot65]

How would this affect the US food supply? Much of our food is imported from China, Mexico, etc. Will global shortages create shortages here?

[cuban leaf]

I believe we export a lot of food to china.

I’ll have to get my bats and silkworms elsewhere, though...

[hanamizu]

I’m a bit concerned about a desperate government doing desperate things. War type things.

---

I don’t know how war helps things if a country has just been devastated by a disaster that affects 10s or possibly 100s of millions. If Three Gorges fails we’re talking about recovery taking decades. Food production cut, huge population loss, etc. That’s not to say that nations haven’t made irrational decisions in the past.

But even without the dam’s failure, China is looking at huge loses from both the flooding and the virus this year.

[Lazamataz]

And you may ask, what happened to my beautiful dam?

Letting the days go by, let the water flow under it,
Letting the days go by, water flowing over it,
Into the Red again after the yuan's gone,
Once in a lifetime, water flowing through the dam.

Same as it ever was,
Same as it ever was,
Same as it ever was,
Same as it ever was...

[Dr. Sivana]

Nothing to do with the story, but here is a heart-warming article about a first generation American who was responsible for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, a true example of the American Dream.

https://thehustle.co/hot-cheetos-inventor/

[Lazamataz]

How would this affect the US food supply? Much of our food is imported from China, Mexico, etc. Will global shortages create shortages here?

Between the federal presses printing trillions, and the food shortages globally, expect a TWEE bit of inflation.

[SE Mom]

Are you serious? Of course this is a global problem. Beck isn’t someone I like but this flooding in China is bad. I’ve been watching it for weeks. It’s food supply and plenty more- that we buy.

This, from the article:

“...Fully 20% of the world’s supply of Corn, Maze and many fruits and vegetables are grown in the Yangtze flood basin. China is also the world’s largest producer of Rice, Wheat, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peanuts, Tea, Millet, Barley, Cotton, Corn and Soybeans...with the bulk of these food crops grown in the Yangtze flood basin.

“...More than 30% of the world’s supply of Chicken and Eggs are farmed in the drainage basin of the Yangtze River, all of this downstream from the 3 Gorges Dam.

[Towed_Jumper]

“China=Don’t care.”

Ditto...no f*cks given about the Chinese. Maybe they can sail the Liaoning up the Yangtze River and park her up against the Three Gorges Dam to help keep it from collapsing.

In the meantime we should commence electronic warfare against the ChiComs and beam in “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin on every possible Chinese radio station:

If it keeps on raining, levee’s going to break
If it keeps on raining, the levee’s going to break
When the levee breaks, we’ll have no place to stay. (v1)

Crying won’t help you, praying won’t do you no good
No, crying won’t help you, praying won’t do you no good
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move, ooh (v3)

[polymuser]

A couple related dam articles...

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3973169

https://tekdeeps.com/the-video-of-the-rehearsal-of-the-three-gorges-dam-failure-was-actually-a-big-flicker-wuhan-opened-the-gate-to-release-the-yangtze-river-water-into-the-city-the-three-gorges-dam-flooded-the-huaihe-t/