Contents
Floods are considered to be the deadliest natural disasters in history, resulting in massive loss of life. The reason for these floods are downpours that do not stop for several days or weeks, the overflow of the river, and so on.
During a flood, victims can die not only from drowning, but also from epidemics that occur against the backdrop of a large-scale cataclysm, hunger, hypothermia, etc.
History knows many catastrophes that led to colossal human losses. The 10 largest floods in the world will be discussed further.
10 Flood of Saint Elizabeth, 1421
St. Elizabeth flood in 1421 occurred in the Grote-Hollands-Waard, an area in the territory of the modern Netherlands. It takes its name from the feast day of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, which used to be November 19th.
On the night of November 18-19, 1421, a severe storm off the coast of the North Sea caused the dams to break in a number of places and the underlying polders to be flooded. The flood engulfed several villages, resulting in between 2 and 000 deaths. Dam failures and flooding caused widespread destruction in Holland.
9. The flood of Saint Marcellus, 1362
Flood of Saint Marcellus, or Grote Mandrenke (Low Saxon: roroːtə mandrɛŋkə, translated as “great drowning of people“) was due to an intense extratropical cyclone coinciding with the new moon that swept through the British Isles, the Netherlands, northern Germany and Denmark. A flood occurred around January 16, 1362, and caused at least 25 deaths.
Storm surge is also called “The second flood of St. Marcellus“because it reached its peak on January 16, the feast day of Saint Marcellus. The “first flood of Marcellus” occurred on January 16, 1219, off the coast of West Friesland and Groningen, and claimed the lives of 36 people.
8. Yangtze, 1954
June to September 1954 Disasters on the Yangtze River were a series of catastrophic floods that occurred mainly in the province of Hubei.
Due to unusually high rainfall, as well as an incredibly long rainy season in the middle section of the Yangtze River in late spring 1954, the water began to rise above its usual level.
Despite attempts to open three important water release sluices, flood levels continued to rise until reaching a historic high of 44,67 m (146,6 ft) in Jingzhou, Hubei and 29,73 m (97,5 ft) in Wuhan. The death toll from this flood was estimated at around 33, including those who died of the plague after the disaster.
7. Flood of St. Mary Magdalene, 1342
Flood of Saint Mary Magdalene (German. Magdalenenhochwasser) was at that time the largest recorded flood in Central Europe. This happened on the day of the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, July 22.
After passing the Genoese lowland, the rivers Rhine, Moselle, Main, Danube, Weser, Werra, Unstrut, Elbe, Vltava and their tributaries flooded vast territories. Many cities such as Cologne, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Würzburg, Regensburg, Passau and Vienna were severely damaged. Even the Eider River to the north of Hamburg flooded the surrounding lands. The affected area extended to Carinthia and northern Italy.
Apparently, after a long hot and dry period, there were continuous rains, which continued for several days in a row and accounted for more than half of the average annual rainfall.
Since the dry soil was unable to absorb this amount of water, surface runoff washed away large areas of fertile soil and caused huge floods that destroyed houses, mills and bridges. In Würzburg, the then famous Steinerne Brücke (Stone Bridge) collapsed, and in Cologne, they say, it was possible to pass through the city fortifications only by rowing boat.
The total number of flood victims is unknown, but it is believed that 6 people died in the Danube region alone. The results of erosion can still be observed today. The volume of soil eroded during this short incident (several days) is over 000 billion metric tons, a volume that would erode under normal climatic conditions over a period of 13 years.
6. Eastern Guatemala, 1949
Cataclysm of 1949 in Eastern Guatemala was a series of severe and destructive floods that followed a particularly destructive hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. The death toll from the floods ranges from 1 to 000, making these floods one of the deadliest in human history.
In addition to the direct fatal consequences of the floods, the disaster had a huge impact on many other areas of life in Guatemala. According to experts, the financial impact of the floods ranged from $15 to $000.
5. Saint Lucia, 1287
Flooding Saint Lucia (Sint-Luciavloedlisten)) was a storm surge that affected the Netherlands and northern Germany on December 14, 1287. The disaster occurred the day after Saint Lucia Day, killing an estimated 50-000 people.
Meteorologically, this disaster was similar to the North Sea flood of 1953, when an extremely low pressure system coinciding with high tide caused a huge storm surge. The flood in St. Lucia had a major impact on the subsequent history of the Netherlands.
Flood Burhardi (also known as Second Grote-Mandrenke) was a storm surge that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia and Dithmarschen (in present-day Germany) on the night of 11/12 October 1634.
By flooding the dikes, it destroyed the coastline and caused thousands of deaths (between 8 and 000 people drowned) and catastrophic property damage. Most of Strand Island was washed away by the wave, forming the islands of Nordstrand, Pellworm, and several Halligen.
3. Flood of Saint Felix, 1530
Saint Felix flood (in Dutch St. Felix flood) occurred on Saturday November 5, 1530 on the day of Saint Felix. This day later became known as “evil Saturday” (kwade zaterdag). Much of Flanders and Zeeland was washed away, including the Verdronken Land of Van Reimerswaal.
In the words of Audrey M. Lambert: “The entire Ost-Wethering south-Beveland was lost, with the exception of only the city of Reimerswal“. More than 100 people died in the Netherlands as a result of flooding on St. Felix Island.
2. Huanghe, China, 1887
Disaster on the Yellow River in 1887 was a devastating flood on the Yellow River in China. This river is prone to flooding due to the elevated nature of the river, flowing between dikes over the wide plains surrounding it.
The flood, which began in September 1887, claimed the lives of about 900 thousand people. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.
1. China, 1931
Floods in China in 1931, or floods on the Yangtze-Huai River, were a series of devastating floods that hit the Republic of China. They were among the deadliest floods in history, and together formed one of the deadliest natural disasters of the 20th century.
According to experts, the total number of deaths varies from 400-500 thousand people. According to Western media, 3,7 to 4 million people may have died as a result of starvation and disease caused by the flood.