Flooded Chinese city received 87 percent of its annual precipitation in 24 hours

Photographs and video footage circulating on the internet on Tuesday captured the harrowing scenes of severe flooding in China's Henan province, and the rainfall statistics further highlight just how out of the ordinary the situation is, even for a region prone to flooding.
The city of Zhengzhou, for instance, received 21.75 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period that ended Tuesday. That figure accounts for 87 percent of the city's average annual precipitation.
And in just one hour, CNN meteorologist Tom Sater reports, Zhengzhou registered a record 7.9 inches, or 200 mm, of rain. For comparison, regions in Germany that similarly experienced devastating floods last week, recorded 154 mm of rain in 24 hours.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At least 12 people have died as a result of the flooding in Zhengzhou, BBC reports, while more than 10,000 people in Henan province have been evacuated.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will robots benefit from a sense of touch
Podcast Plus, has Donald Trump given centrism a new lease of life? And was it wrong to release the deadly film Rust?
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A dancing couple, a new pope, and more
-
How to create your perfect bedscape
The Week Recommends Nighttime is the right time to get excited about going to bed
-
EPA is reportedly killing Energy Star program
speed read The program for energy-efficient home appliances has saved consumers billions in energy costs since its 1992 launch
-
Pakistan's solar panel boom
Under The Radar A 'perfect storm' has created a solar 'revolution' in the south Asian country
-
The worst coral bleaching event breaks records
The Explainer Bleaching has now affected 84% of the world's coral reefs
-
Why UK scientists are trying to dim the Sun
In The Spotlight The UK has funded controversial geoengineering techniques that could prove helpful in slowing climate change
-
Electric ferries are becoming the next big environmental trend
Under the Radar From Hong Kong to Lake Tahoe, electric ferries are the new wave
-
US proposes eroding species protections
Speed Read The Trump administration wants to change the definition of 'harm' in the Environmental Protection Act to allow habitat damage
-
Ukraine is experiencing an 'ecocide' and wants Russia to pay
Under the radar The environment is a silent victim of war
-
How wild horses are preventing wildfires in Spain
Under The Radar The animals roam more than 5,700 hectares of public forest, reducing the volume of combustible vegetation in the landscape