This pattern has been repeated throughout the Yangtze basin, where the population as more than doubled since 1949, about 200 million people. So this year's flow should not have been a problem. But the combination of land reclamation and population growth created an environmental time bomb. It exploded in August. When the Yangtze's waters roared through Yangxin last summer, the lake beds, which once soaked up excess water, became giant traps.
China deals with crises by issuing proclamations and blanket bans from Beijing.
But the bans, poorly thought out and badly implemented, rarely work. Little effort is made to coordinate policy with county chiefs such as Xu, who must implement the rules.