Year
Date and Place
Discription
1228
Holland
100,000 people reputedly drowned by sea flood in Friesland.
1642
China
rebels destroyed Kaifeng seawall; 300,000 drowned.
1889
May 31, Johnstown, Pa.
more than 2,200 died in flood after South Fork Dam collapsed.
1896
June 15, Sanriku, Japan
An earthquake caused a tidal wave that killed 27,000.
1910
March 1, Wellington, Wash.
An avalanche in the Cascade Range swept two trains into a canyon, killing 96. Worst U.S. avalanche.
1928
March 12, Santa Paula, Calif.
collapseof St. Francis Dam left 450 dead.
1931
July—Aug., China
flood along Yangtze River left 3.7 million people dead from disease, starvation, or drowning.
1953
Jan. 31—Feb. 5, northwest Europe
storm followed by floods devastated North Sea coastalareas. Netherlands was hardest hit with 1,794 dead.
1954
Aug., Teheran, Iran
flood rains resulted in some 10,000 deaths.
1959
Dec. 2, Fréjus, France
A flood caused by the collapse of Malpasset Dam left 412 dead.
1962
Jan. 10, Peru
An avalanche that came down the extinct Huascaran volcano killed more than 3,000.
1963
Oct. 9, Italy
A landslide into the Vaiont Dam caused a flood that killed about 2,000.
1966
Oct. 21, Aberfan, Wales
avalanche of coal, waste, mud and rocks killed 144 people, including 116 children in a school.
1969
Jan. 18—26, southern Calif.
floodsand mudslides from heavy rains caused widespread property damage; at least 100 dead. Another downpour (Feb. 23—26) caused further floods and mudslides which left at least 18 dead.
1970
Nov. 13, East Pakistan
200,000 killed by a cyclone-driven tidal wave from Bay of Bengal. Over 100,000 missing.
1971
Aug., Hanoi, North Vietnam
heavy rains caused severe flooding in the Red River Delta, killing 100,000.
1972
Feb. 26, Man, W. Va.
More than 118 died when slag-pile dam collapsed under pressure of torrential rains and flooded a 17-mile valley.
June 9—10, Rapid City, S.D.
flash flood caused 237 deaths and $160 million in damage.
June 20, Eastern Seaboard
Tropical storm Agnes, in ten-day rampage, caused widespread flash floods.Death toll 129; 115,000 left homeless; damage estimated at $3.5 billion.
1976
Aug. 1, Loveland, Colo.
Flash floods along Route 34 in Big Thompson Canyon left 139 dead.
1988
Aug.—Sept., Bangladesh
The heaviest monsoon in 70 years inundated three-fourths of country, killing more than 1,300 and leaving 30 million homeless. Damage estimated at over $1 billion.
1993
June—Aug., Ill., Iowa,Kan., Ky., Minn., Mo., Neb., N.D., S.D., Wis.
Two months of heavy rain caused the Mississippi River and tributaries to flood; almost 50 deaths and about $12 billion in damage. Almost 70,000 left homeless.
1997
Dec. 1996—Jan. 1997,U.S. West Coast
Torrential rains and snowmelt produced severe floods in parts of Calif., Ore., Wash., Idaho, Nev., and Mont., causing 36 deathsand about $2—3 billion in damage.
March, Ohio and Mississippi Valleys
Flooding and tornadoes plagued Ark., Mo., Miss., Tenn., Ill., Ind., Ky., Ohio,and W.Va. 67 were killed and damage totaled approximately $1 billion.
April, N.D., S.D., and Minn.
Grand Forks,N.D., and surrounding area devastated as the Red River swelled 13 ft above flood level.
1998
July 17, Papua New Guinea
Three tsunamis, possibly spurred by an undersea landslide following an earthquake, wiped out entire villages in the northwest province of Sepik. One tidal wave was reported by survivors to be 30 ft high. At least 2,000 found or presumed dead. Many who were injured by the tsunamis were later killed by deadly gangrene infections.
Summer, central and northeast China
The heaviest flooding of Yangtze and other rivers since 1954 left more than 3,000 dead. 14 million people were left homeless. Estimated damages exceeded $20 billion.
1999
Summer, Asia
Flooding plagued Asia again after weeks of torrential downpours. More than 950 killed and millions left homeless in S. Korea, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Oct., southwest Mexico
Over a week ofheavy rains killed at least 360 people in mudslides and flood waters.
Nov. and Dec., Vietnam
Devastating floods caused $285 million in damage and killed more than 700 people.
Dec. 15—16, northern Venezuela
Heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding and mudslides, killing an estimated 5,000 to 20,000 people. It was the country's worst modern-day natural disaster.
2000
Feb., southeast Africa
Weeks of rain resulted in deadly floods in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. About 700 people were killed and more than 280,000 were left homeless.
mid-September, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam
Rising flood waters from the Mekong River and its tributaries destroyed crops and livestock and left at least 235 people dead and 4.5 million homeless. Damages were estimated at $50 million in Cambodia and $24 million in Thailand.
2004
December 26, Indian Ocean
An undersea megathrust earthquake that registered a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 Mw, caused a series of massive tsunami waves which grew up to 30 m (100 ft) high once heading inland. Communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean were severely affected, and the tsunamis killed an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, making it, one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The direct results caused major disruptions to living conditions and commerce in coastal provinces of surrounded countries, including Aceh (Indonesia), Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu (India) and Khao Lak (Thailand). Banda Aceh reported the largest number of deaths. The earthquake was the third-largest ever recorded and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between eight and ten minutes. It caused the planet to vibrate as much as 10 mm (0.4 in), and also remotely triggered earthquakes as far away as Alaska. Its epicentre was between Simeulue and mainland Sumatra.
2005
Southern United States
Hurricane Katrina was a large Category 5 Atlantic hurricane which caused over 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damage in August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Katrina's storm surge caused 53 breaches to various flood protection structures in and around the greater New Orleans area, submerging 80% of the city.
2011
11 March, japan
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900, triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture, and which, in the Sendai area, traveled at 700 km/h (435 mph) and up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. A 2015 report confirms 15,899 deaths, 6,157 injured, and 2,529 people missing. Some 228,863 people were still living away from their home in 2015. The tsunami caused level 7 nuclear meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex after it flooded the plant's backup generators.