Why China’s Yellow River is so yellow - and why it’s prone to flooding Huang He floods, (1887, 1931, 1938), series of devastating floods in China caused by the overflowing of the Huang He (Yellow River), the country’s second longest river. China has had the good fortune to have two great rivers: the Yangtze and the Yellow River (or Huang He). The worst flood I believe was the Yellow River Flood in China in 1931. The Yellow River is also known as the "cradle of Chinese civilization" or the "Mother River." These three floods collectively killed millions and are considered to be the three deadliest floods in history and among the most destructive natural disasters ever recorded. Usually a source of rich fertile soil and irrigation water, the Yellow River has transformed itself more than 1,500 times in recorded history into a raging torrent that has swept away entire villages. The river floods all the time, killing thousands, but in 1931 the death toll was around 3,000,000. These rivers have flooded throughout Chinese history, but no year was as bad as 1931.

info)) is the second longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth longest river system in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi). In this year, three of China's biggest rivers (the Yellow, Yangtze, and Huai) all flooded.