Zhengzhou Floods on July 20: An Act of God or Man-Made Disaster?

(Minghui.org) July 20 every year is a special day. Twenty-two years ago on this day, about 100 million innocent Falun Gong practitioners suddenly became victims of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s persecution, which continues unabated to this day.

This year’s July 20 saw Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province, suddenly devastated by floods. According to video footage shared by local residents, the muddy floodwaters washed away people and cars, the Jingguang Road (from Beijing to Guangzhou) tunnel was submerged, subway trains were flooded, people were trapped in chest-high water, and many fell in potholes and were swept away.

When the floodwaters receded, dead bodies lay on the streets and in subway stations; vehicles, some upside down, were piled up on the roads; and many vehicles remained submerged in parking lots and other places. It was like wartime, with immeasurable property loss and untold casualties.

While the Zhengzhou flood is making headlines around the world, the CCP-controlled media seems to be doing its best to avoid covering the topic in full. The Central China Television (CCTV) and Henan TV both keep broadcasting news and programs claiming that the city of Zhengzhou and the county as a whole are still “prospering.” Interestingly, there’s more coverage on Zhengzhou in Germany. People’s Daily did mention the Zhengzhou flooding on page seven, but the narrative was misleading. “There has been lots of rain in Henan Province lately and many government agencies have taken actions to deal with it,” read the typically pro-CCP news that people see every day.

News media across China have all attributed the Zhengzhou floods to “an act of God” and “a natural disaster,” with some claiming the flooding was the worst in the past 1,000 or even 5,000 years.

Here we would like to give you some facts regarding the floods.

Where Did the Water Come From?

On July 21, a video (see image below) taken by local residents was circulating on the internet. It shows how rapidly the water level rose in just a short period of time. One can see that at 1:40 p.m., it was raining hard in downtown Zhengzhou, but hardly any water (upper left in the picture below) accumulated. Within half an hour, however, the entire road was submerged and by 2:20 p.m., some buses had halted operation due to the high water level (upper right in the picture).

The water level rose suddenly in Zhengzhou City.

An hour later, the entire city center was flooded and all vehicles had stopped (lower left in the picture). By 5:30 p.m., the entire city was submerged, and both vehicles and people were being washed away (lower right in the picture).

In many videos, you can see how fast the water was running in Zhengzhou. In one, a long-haired woman, a father, and his children were knocked down by the rushing water, couldn’t stand up, and were washed away. Similarly, many vehicles were pushed in all directions by the current. Unlike “waterlogging” as the CCP media claimed, it was more like the Yellow River had been redirected or water had been discharged from the reservoir.

Zhengzhou is located on a plateau, with no mountains around. Even if there is a sudden large rainfall, the water level would just gradually increase from low-lying places to higher grounds. But the sudden flood of water in downtown Zhengzhou was different and, given the rapidly increasing flow, it could only have come from reservoir discharge.

In addition, the water in downtown Zhengzhou was gone by early July 21 and hardly any accumulated water was left on the streets. The water came and went quickly, which was not what would have happened if it had been “waterlogging.”

Reservoir Discharge Without Warning, Killing Without Mercy

Further evidence soon emerged to confirm that it was a reservoir discharge and that no warning had been given. The Zhengzhou Propaganda Department’s official social media account posted a note at 1 a.m. on July 21 that read, “Because of recent rainfalls in the Zhengzhou area, plus a large amount of upstream water, the Changzhuang Water Reservoir in Zhengzhou was at risk. As a result, the water reservoir began to discharge water at 10:30 a.m. on July 20. By 9:34 p.m., the water level was 130.54 meters... about 70 cm lower than the highest water level of the day.” (see left part of the picture below)

Public notice at 1 a.m. on July 21 after the flooding (left), although an internal notice was issued before the flood (right).

Why discharge water at 10:30 a.m. on July 20 and notify the public at 1 a.m. on July 21? There was no announcement for 14 hours and the message did not come until after midnight.

Thinking through the process, it may at first seem hard to understand why water would be discharged like that without warning—almost like murder. But a detailed analysis, as described below, shows it is consistent with the CCP’s track record of showing no regard for human life. In fact, CCP officials often discharged water at midnight, when people were less likely to notice—or respond.

The victims of the CCP are usually limited to ordinary citizens, as elite groups in the CCP systems are usually given advance notice. This time in Zhengzhou, an internal notice was sent in advance to notify those elites of the water discharge (see right part of the picture above).

Why Discharge Water Without Advance Notice?

Many countries around the globe have reservoirs. Their main function is to prevent flooding and mitigate drought. That means they should discharge water in the dry season and accumulate water during the rainy season. This, however, is not the CCP’s rationale.

To serve the Party’s economic interests, reservoirs often accumulate water in the dry season so that more electricity can be generated to reap profits for the officials—even though it means that ordinary people suffer from drought. When there is heavy rainfall, they are forced to discharge water—but it is done with no warning. In the end, only ordinary citizens suffer, losing both their assets and lives.

So why are there no routine advance warnings when reservoirs discharge water? According to some officials, had there been a warning, the loss could be attributed to officials or to the reservoirs. The victims would then be able to seek compensation. Without a warning, all losses could be attributed to a “natural disaster.” This could avoid liability. Then the Party could distribute food, and ordinary citizens would then be thankful for the Party’s help. As far as how many people die, that is not something the Party is concerned with.

To some degree, this is similar to the coronavirus pandemic that occurred last year in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. The CCP always covered up and misinformed the public. This was not the first time the CCP did this, nor will it be the last.

Data Doesn’t Lie: No Way Near a “Natural Disaster”

Although the CCP media has claimed this Zhengzhou flood was the most serious flood in 1,000 years or more, let us look at the data.

According to the CCP’s official data, from 8 p.m. on July 17 to 8 p.m. on July 20, the total rainfall in Zhengzhou was 617.1 mm, with most of the rain falling between 8 p.m. on July 19 and 8 p.m. on July 20, a total of 552.5 mm in those 24 hours. On July 20 alone, the highest hourly rainfall was 201.9 mm.

We acknowledge that such a rainfall was indeed alarming, but it was not once every 1,000 years. In fact, the first official weather station in Zhengzhou did not exist until 70 years ago.

One example could be the Banqiao Dam Failure in Henan in August 1975. At that time, the rainfall in nearby Zhumadian City was 1,605.3 mm from August 5 to 7. During that time, the largest single-day rainfall was 1,060 mm, with the highest hourly rainfall of 218.1 mm.

From almost all indicators, the rainfall in Zhengzhou this time was not as bad as that in 1975. So, it is not even the worst rainfall in the past 50 years. The Party’s claim of “the worst rainfall in the past 1,000 years” is just one of the many pieces of propaganda the CCP has fabricated to shirk its responsibility; otherwise, it would be held accountable for the deaths, just like the tens of thousands of urns distributed in Wuhan last year.

Using Tragedies as Opportunities to Take Credit

Since CCP officials knew there would be heavy rainfall, why weren’t sandbags distributed in advance? Since they were discharging water in the flooding season, why didn’t they stop running public transit? In fact, if public transit had been halted, especially the subways, many lives could have been saved.

The Party doesn’t bother to show up when it is needed most, yet it comes in full force when it is time to suppress people. Just look at other incidents. Every time something happens, the CCP dispatches hundreds or thousands of police officers to “maintain stability.” After a high school student from Chengdu 49th High School in Sichuan Province fell from a building and died in May this year, hundreds of police officers were dispatched to deal with parents who sought the truth. Similarly, when students in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang protested combining independent universities with tech schools in this June, about 1,000 police offers were sent to suppress them.

To handle the major disaster in Zhengzhou, only about 100 police officers were dispatched at a much later time. And yet, CCP-controlled media repeatedly praised the Party for sending the police to save people’s lives.

Even as Zhengzhou is still struggling to recover from this disaster, the CCP has already been promoting stories of how the Party cared about people with “warmhearted” scenes.

In fact, similar things happened during the pandemic last year. Even before the pandemic was under control in March last year, the CCP had already declared victory in defeating the virus and even held a celebration party. The CCP is good at turning tragedies into opportunities to boast about itself as the “savior of the people.”

What Can We Learn?

It is now clear that the flooding in Henan was more of a man-made tragedy than a “natural disaster.” Taking a step back and putting this incident in the context of the countless tragedies the CCP has caused, one may see that the Zhengzhou tragedy has provided us an opportunity for us to reflect on the harm the CCP inflicts upon us and the rest of the world.

Zhengzhou was flooded on July 20, a special date. Twenty-two years ago on that day, the CCP launched the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners for their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Since then, a large number of practitioners have been detained, imprisoned, and tortured. About 100 methods of torture have been documented on Minghui, such as the use of electric batons, shackles, the tiger bench, burning, freezing, sleep deprivation, forced drugging, force-feeding of urine or feces, and force-feeding hot pepper water. The list is long and includes nerve-damaging drugs, rape, gang rape, injury, disability, mental disorder, death, and forced organ harvesting.

At least 4,677 practitioners have been confirmed to have died as a result of the persecution. This number doesn’t even include those who have been killed for their organs, a number that is unknown due to the CCP’s tight control of information.

Since July 1999, nearly all practitioners have been discriminated against for their belief. Many of them—and their family members—have lost their jobs, had their children expelled from school, and seen their families torn apart. Among the countless lies the CCP has produced to defame Falun Gong, the staged Self-Immolation on Tiananmen Square alone has misled so many Chinese, turning them against innocent Falun Gong practitioners.

One may think that the persecution of Falun Gong is far away if he or she is not a Falun Gong practitioner. The truth is, if the CCP continues to harm innocent people and goes unchecked—just like what has gone on for the past few decades—it is merely a matter of time before we are the next victims.

The crime of forced organ harvesting alone is referred to as a “new form of evil on this planet.” If one remains silent about this and neglects the thousands of confirmed deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in the suppression, and many more detained and tortured, the CCP will waste no time in pushing the communist agenda around the globe.

Behind the ravaging pandemic and the devastating flood, we can see the shadow of the CCP’s lies and misinformation. Without eradicating the CCP, there will be no peace or safety in China—or the world.

Summary

Falun Gong practitioners’ banner opposes the 22-year long persecution in a parade in Washington D.C. on July 16, 2021

Lessons from the pandemic and tragedies over the past few decades have indicated that the CCP is the single biggest threat to mankind in today’s world. The Zhengzhou flood was a result of water discharged from a reservoir without advance warning. Those who understand the CCP is deceitful and brutal know that the CCP will never be honest with its people. Just as it says in the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, the CCP is an evil cult controlled by the specter of communism whose ultimate goal is to destroy mankind.

Falun Gong practitioners have been informing the public of the CCP’s harm during the past 22 years despite the persecution. Of all the groups suppressed by the CCP, Falun Gong practitioners are the largest group that has suffered the most brutal torture, both physically and mentally. And yet, following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, they have remained peaceful, rational, and compassionate in their pursuit of their basic right to freedom of belief and their efforts to urge people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

Over 380 million Chinese have seen through the CCP’s vicious nature and publicly separated themselves from the regime. As more people join the movement to reject the CCP, Chinese and other nationalities alike will be blessed with a brighter future.