On 20 July, 20 centimetres of rain fell on Zhengzhou in a single hour. Normally, annual rainfall in the capital of Henan province in central China is 60 centimetres. Almost as much as that fell during that one day. Subway lines were submerged. Roads became rivers. More than 300 people died, 50 are missing and around ten million were affected by the ferocity of flooding. So far, the financial cost is estimated at around $12.7bn.
A Chinese reporter, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the floods were followed by a wave of media coverage, not just about effects, but also about causes. “In China, we can’t really go into the street and protest,” she tells me from Shanghai, but there has been a drive “from the bottom up” to take climate change seriously.
“There are foundations, they write articles, they submit to the government – a lot of people raise awareness in China’s media. You have more stories, better coverage, experts writing […] There’s been more and more discussion on social media.”
