In the 1931 China floods, the high-water mark was reached on 19 August at Hankou, with the water level exceeding above normal. Comparatively, this is an average of above the Shanghai Bund. In 1936, when natural disaster struck Central China with widespread flooding affecting Hebei (), Hunan (), Jiangxi (), Wuhan and Chongqing () caused by the Yangtze and Huai Rivers () bursting their banks, Ong Seok Kim, as Chairman of the Sitiawan Fundraising and Disaster Relief Committee, raised money and materials in support of the victims.