Page 103 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
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GFA – A Different Drumbeat 103
FURLOUGH THEN FLOODS 1930/31
After the hardships of 1929 and 1930 GFA was looking forward to a break. In twenty two
years he had had only one furlough, so in 1931 he and Fanny with Aileen, left Mervyn at
Chefoo and sailed for North America where his name was already well known. This was in
a large part due to his impelling report “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”, about the 1930
famine, which generated some very generous support from North America. While on
furlough, he conducted an extended lecture tour in the United States. This would have been
normal deputation work that was expected of all CIM missionaries when they had their
year’s furlough in their home country. It may also have included talks about the Famine
Relief and Earthquake Relief experiences he had had with the International Famine Relief
Commission.
They returned to Shanghai at the end of 1931, leaving Aileen, who was seventeen, in
Toronto with Leslie.
It must have given him a weird sense of déja-vu to hear about another horrific natural
disaster that had occurred in China while he was on furlough. Here is a report of the floods
written some years later.
(Copied from: http://aboutgaoyou.com/)
Forgotten China Flood of August 26 1931 –
The Most Devastating Flood of the 20th century,
To this day, the China flood of 1931 is regarded as the most devastating water-
related disaster anywhere in the 20th century, perhaps ever. During the flood, over
140,000 Chinese drowned, 3.7 million were killed in the 9 months that followed and
not less than 70,000 square miles flooded, often over 10-15 feet deep for periods of
3 -6 months. The flood had begun with record summer rainstorms all across China.
By August, all hell broke loose as China’s 3 primary rivers, the Yangtse, the Hwang
and the Hwai, each massively overflowed their banks, surpassing all previous flood
levels. The Yangtse alone would flood to record levels for over a month and a half,
starting from Chungking Aug. 6th, to Hankow Aug. 19th, down to Nanking on Sept.
16th, covering over 900 miles long averaging 40 miles wide.
The Huai river flood to the north was equal or greater in magnitude. One thinks of a
conventional flood, it comes and it goes. Not so this flood, it came and receded very
slowly. Waters languished on the land for 3-6 months. The flood’s impact grew
month by month as winter approached and there was little food or shelter. In total, it
affected over 50,000,000 people leaving a year long trail of death, starvation and
disease. The 1931 flood killed 15 times the number of people lost in the Indonesian
tsunamis of December 2004, and yet scarcely a word has been written of it. History
focused instead on other disasters that year. China’s attention was on a civil war
FURLOUGH THEN FLOODS 1930/31
After the hardships of 1929 and 1930 GFA was looking forward to a break. In twenty two
years he had had only one furlough, so in 1931 he and Fanny with Aileen, left Mervyn at
Chefoo and sailed for North America where his name was already well known. This was in
a large part due to his impelling report “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”, about the 1930
famine, which generated some very generous support from North America. While on
furlough, he conducted an extended lecture tour in the United States. This would have been
normal deputation work that was expected of all CIM missionaries when they had their
year’s furlough in their home country. It may also have included talks about the Famine
Relief and Earthquake Relief experiences he had had with the International Famine Relief
Commission.
They returned to Shanghai at the end of 1931, leaving Aileen, who was seventeen, in
Toronto with Leslie.
It must have given him a weird sense of déja-vu to hear about another horrific natural
disaster that had occurred in China while he was on furlough. Here is a report of the floods
written some years later.
(Copied from: http://aboutgaoyou.com/)
Forgotten China Flood of August 26 1931 –
The Most Devastating Flood of the 20th century,
To this day, the China flood of 1931 is regarded as the most devastating water-
related disaster anywhere in the 20th century, perhaps ever. During the flood, over
140,000 Chinese drowned, 3.7 million were killed in the 9 months that followed and
not less than 70,000 square miles flooded, often over 10-15 feet deep for periods of
3 -6 months. The flood had begun with record summer rainstorms all across China.
By August, all hell broke loose as China’s 3 primary rivers, the Yangtse, the Hwang
and the Hwai, each massively overflowed their banks, surpassing all previous flood
levels. The Yangtse alone would flood to record levels for over a month and a half,
starting from Chungking Aug. 6th, to Hankow Aug. 19th, down to Nanking on Sept.
16th, covering over 900 miles long averaging 40 miles wide.
The Huai river flood to the north was equal or greater in magnitude. One thinks of a
conventional flood, it comes and it goes. Not so this flood, it came and receded very
slowly. Waters languished on the land for 3-6 months. The flood’s impact grew
month by month as winter approached and there was little food or shelter. In total, it
affected over 50,000,000 people leaving a year long trail of death, starvation and
disease. The 1931 flood killed 15 times the number of people lost in the Indonesian
tsunamis of December 2004, and yet scarcely a word has been written of it. History
focused instead on other disasters that year. China’s attention was on a civil war
