ABSTRACT
In August 1975, a typhoon struck Zhumadian Prefecture of Henan province in central China, causing reservoirs to swell with rainwater behind dozens of dams. The typhoon's official designation was 'Number 7503', and the events it helped precipitate, were called the 'August 1975 Disaster'. When the torrential rains subsided, the massive Banqiao and Shimantan dams had collapsed, as had dozens of smaller dams. The storm began on August 4, when the typhoon skirted by Taiwan and hit the Chinese mainland at the Jin River in Fujian Province. On August 5, the typhoon suddenly dropped off the radar screen at the Central Meteorological Observatory in Beijing. During the thirty-year campaign to 'Harness the Huai River', the Shimantan dam was built in the upper reaches of the Hong river, and the Banqiao dam was built in the upper reaches of the Ru river.
