Visualizing the record rain which inundated northeast China in late July and early August.
The topography of an area, too, plays a major role in its flooding vulnerability. Low-lying areas are at much higher risk, as water flows downwards into valleys, poorly drained basins, or low spots within urban areas.
Rural areas, by contrast, typically feature open spaces, greenery and natural drainage systems such as rivers and streams – all of which help absorb and disperse rainfall effectively, reducing the speed and volume of runoffs during heavy storms.Soil is generally more permeable, allowing water to soak into the ground. Farmlands and grasslands act as natural buffers for rainfall.
The illustration now shows buildings on that slice of flooded concrete, with the water level higher against the side of the buildings.Certain urban design features can create bottlenecks, which further restrict the flow of water and can cause areas of more extreme flooding.Variations in terrain can cause rainfall from elsewhere to flow into the area, compounding the water volume while also restricting where flood water can dissipate.
But as drastic as this year’s floods have been, Beijing isn’t new to catastrophic flooding. According to Ma’s research paper, there has been flooding that resulted in casualties at least eight times since 2004. In July 2012, flash floods swept across the city’s low-lying areas and underpasses of highways, killing 79 people and causing economic losses of almost 12 billion yuan.
Chinese cities also lack the kind of underground drainage systems in other developed countries precisely because China modernized so quickly, according to Zheng Zheng, professor of environmental sciences at Fudan University in Shanghai. By contrast, wet-season runoff from a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, was reduced by 98 percent by shrinking the width of the paved street and incorporating vegetated hollows along the sides of streets.
Experts believe sponge city infrastructure can only handle no more than 200 millimetres of rain per day. At the height of the rainstorms that lashed Beijing at the end of July, rainfall at one station reached 745 millimetres over three and a half days. In July 2021, Zhengzhou saw rainfall in excess of 200 mm in just one hour.
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