On this episode of China Uncensored,
these photos of the massive flooding in central China are remarkable.
Almost as remarkable as the level of corruption
that made this a mostly man-made disaster.
Wuhan. The most populous city in central China.
Once known as “the city of 100 lakes.”
Unfortunately, right now, it looks like one giant lake.
It’s thanks to some of the worst flooding in China in over a decade.
The worst part is,
the government is largely to blame
for making it much worse than just a normal natural disaster.
To give you an idea of how bad it is,
here are 7 photos of the devastation,
as I explain why this was a partly preventable disaster.
Number 1
According to official statistics from the Chinese government,
which are always so trustworthy,
more than 180 people have died
in the devastating floods affecting central and South China.
And a super typhoon is on the way...
Number 2
Don’t worry though.
Top Chinese officials rushed to the scene.
Hmm, good question.
But perhaps the better question is where were top officials
while corruption and overbuilding primed Wuhan for this disaster?
Number 3
You know how I said Wuhan was known as the city of 100 lakes?
Well, most of those lakes were filled in to make room for construction.
Only about 40 were left.
Number 4
The city has been so built up,
there was nowhere for the water to go.
I don’t think this was supposed to be a giant water polo stadium.
Number 5
But it wouldn’t have been so bad if, for instance,
proper drainage systems had been put in place.
Number 6
Also, in 2013,
the Wuhan government said a nearly two billion dollar 3 year project
would eliminate flooding by 2016.
You can see how that turned out.
Why?
Corruption.
Massive, massive corruption.
According to this report,
the local official in charge of a hundred-plus million dollar dike construction project
was caught taking 240 thousand dollars in bribes.
Two other officials were also charged.
Number 7
And one of the dikes that should have been fixed in that project
just was breached during the flooding.
And this is far from the first time corruption has cost people lives in China.
An estimated nearly 70,000 people died in the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake.
Many were children who were crushed when their schools collapsed.
Local officials had been embezzling construction funds
for the schools on a massive scale
and they used cheaper, lower quality building materials instead.
It became known as “tofu construction.”
And back in 1998,
massive flooding killed 4,000 people.
The premier at the time, Zhu Rongji,
visited the site of a major dike in Jiangxi province
that was breached because it wasn’t built properly.
Zhu was reported as having said to the local officials,
“How can you be corrupt to such a degree?”
As you can see in this BBC drone footage,
the devastation in Wuhan is severe.
But the people of Wuhan are getting by
despite the failures of their government.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Why not leave a word of support in the comment section below
to the people in China suffering from these floods?
Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell. See you next time.