A tropical cyclone began developing between Yap and Guam on August 14 . It drifted northward initially , and later began a west-northwest track on August 19 . The typhoon curved back to the northwest , striking Okinawa on August 24 . A station in Naha recorded a minimum pressure of 963 mbar ( 28.50 inHg ) . After crossing the East China Sea , the typhoon curved to the north and struck China 's east coast near Ningbo on August 25 . The storm passed east of Shanghai , bringing estimated winds of 160 km/h ( 100 mph ) to the city . The '' SS President Cleveland '' rode out the typhoon along the Huangpu River , and recorded a pressure of 966 mbar ( 28.53 inHg ) . After affecting China , the typhoon recurved to the northeast , moving across the Yellow Sea , the northern Korean peninsula , the Sea of Japan , and eventually the La Pérouse Strait . The typhoon was last observed on August 28 . In Shanghai , high winds knocked down hundreds of trees . Ahead of the typhoon , heavy rainfall across China led to the deadliest floods worldwide in the 20th century , with large areas flooded along the country 's major rivers . On August 26 , wind-generated waves from the typhoon broke the walls of the levees along Lake Gaoyou . There were 15 breaks in levees along the Grand Canal , inundating a portion of northern Jiangsu , including 80 towns , killing 300,000 people , according to contemporaneous news reports . In the city of Gaoyou , the levee break killed 2,000 people in the middle of the night . In 2005 , the 1931 Gaoyou Flood museum opened , featuring aerial photographs of the floods , taken by Charles Lindbergh . In Korea , the typhoon killed 40 people , with 770 fishermen reported missing after the storm 's passage
deadliest floods worldwide in the 20th century
1931 China floods
1931 Pacific typhoon season