The worst floods in the world. The most famous floods in history

Heavy downpours with hail and sudden melting of snow sometimes lead to catastrophic consequences - the death of hundreds or even thousands of people, cause significant material damage and destroy infrastructure. This is not the first time that the largest floods in the world show people who really controls the earth.

in 1931

One of the largest floods in the world occurred in China at the end of the first third of the twentieth century. From 1928 to 1930, the country suffered from a very severe drought, but in the winter of 1930 there were constant snowstorms, and in the spring there were incessant downpours and sudden warming, due to which the Huaihe and Yangtze rivers overflowed, the banks were washed away, and the water began to wash away nearby settlements . In the Yangtze River, the water level rose by seventy centimeters in just one summer month.

The river overflowed and reached the then capital of China - the city of Nanjing. Many drowned or died from waterborne infections (typhoid, cholera and others). Among desperate local residents, there are cases of child murder and cannibalism during this difficult time. According to local sources, about 145 thousand people died, and Western sources claimed that among the dead there were between 3.7 and 4 million people.

Natural disaster in Yellow River Province

The world's other great flood also happened in China, only a few decades earlier. In 1887, the Yellow River province experienced incessant rain for many days, causing water levels to rise and dams to break. The water soon reached the city of Zhengzhou, located in this province, and then spread throughout northern China, that is, an area of ​​approximately 1300 km 2. About two million people were left homeless as a result of one of the worst floods in the world, and nine hundred thousand local residents died.

Flood of St. Felix in 1630

On the day of Saint Felix de Valois, one of the founders of the Trinitarian order, most of Flanders, the historical region of the Netherlands and the province of Zeeland were washed away by water. It is assumed that more than one hundred thousand residents became victims of the raging disaster. The day when the natural disaster occurred subsequently became known in this area as Evil Saturday.

Flood of St. Mary Magdalene

Floods occur everywhere in the world. The largest in Central Europe (of those documented) happened on the feast day of Mary Magdalene in the summer of 1342. This memorable date is celebrated by the Lutheran and Catholic Churches on the twenty-second of July. On the day of the disaster, the Danube, Werra, Unstrut, Moselle, Rhine, Main, Elbe, Vltava and Moselle overflowed their banks and flooded the surrounding area. Many cities were seriously damaged. Wurzburg, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Vienna, Cologne and others were affected.

A long dry summer was followed by heavy rain for several days in a row, with approximately half of the annual rainfall falling. Dry soil did not absorb such a huge amount of water. Many houses were destroyed and thousands of people died. The total number of victims of one of the worst floods in the world is unknown, but it is believed that about six thousand local residents drowned in the coastal areas of the Danube alone.

The following summer, cold and wet, left the population without crops and suffered greatly from famine. Adding to the troubles was the plague epidemic, which reached its peak in 1348-1350, taking the lives of at least a third of the population of central Europe. The Black Death affected local people in Asia, North Africa, Europe and the island of Greenland.

Tragedy in Thailand in 2011-2012.

The natural disaster was caused by the heaviest rains in the last half century in the central, northern and northeastern provinces of the country. From there, the water went through the lowlands to Bangkok. In total, sixty-five out of seventy-six provinces were affected, and more than thirteen thousand people were killed. The rains were caused by tropical storm Nok Ten, which struck Thailand on July 5, 2011.

The flooding continued for quite some time. As a result, several industrial zones were flooded, where factories of automobile manufacturing corporations, factories for the production of hard drives, fifteen thousand other enterprises and eight hundred thousand residential buildings, one and a half million hectares of agricultural land and 12.5% ​​of Thailand's rice fields, the second largest airport in Thailand were located. country. Material damage was estimated at a minimum of $24.3 billion (maximum $43 billion).

Flood in Australia 2010-2011

One of the latest floods in the world (one of the largest) occurred in the Australian state of Queensland. During the Christmas holidays there were heavy rains as a result of tropical cyclone Tasha. As a result, it exceeded the maximum values. In early January 2010, a natural disaster affected the state capital and the Lockyer Valley, washing away everything in its path. Only twenty-three people became victims of the disaster, but this is only because the authorities managed to evacuate about two hundred thousand local residents. Twenty cities were flooded, with damage estimated at billions of dollars.

Spill in Myanmar

In May 2008, the country was hit by the strongest tropical cyclone Nargis, which led to the flooding of a large waterway - the Irrawaddy River. Streams of water washed away entire cities. Ninety thousand people were killed as a result of the natural disaster, fifty-six thousand were missing, and experts estimated the damage at ten billion United States dollars.

The ominous flood in Pakistan in the summer of 2010

One of the worst floods in the world happened in 2010 in Pakistan. The raging disaster killed 2 thousand people, and the damage amounted to $10 billion. The flood caused a massive exodus of spiders. They escaped the water in the trees, enveloping the crowns with a thick layer of cobwebs. Therefore, the coastal landscapes took on a truly sinister look.

Flood in the Czech Republic in 2002

The next major flood in the world hit Europe in 2002. The Czech Republic suffered the most. The Vltava River rose seven meters, flooded houses and the metro, and almost washed away the Charles Bridge, one of the main attractions. The zoo was badly damaged by the flood. As a result, more than 100 animals died. The damage amounted to 4 billion US dollars.

Natural disaster in the Philippines in 2009

More than 370 thousand people were forced to leave their homes due to the threat caused by the flood. More than 600 thousand local residents suffered from the consequences of the rampant disaster, and about 300 people died. A state of emergency was declared in the capital and other cities, the operation of one of the airports was suspended, flights were canceled or rescheduled, and kilometers of traffic jams literally paralyzed the city.

Tropical Typhoon Ketsana, which occurred a few days after the flooding, also affected nearby countries. On Tuesday, rains hit the coast of Vietnam and killed 23 people. In the Philippines, more than 340 mm of rain fell in six hours. These are the heaviest rains in the country since the middle of the last century.

The island nation is hit by approximately twenty typhoons and tropical storms each year, but this disaster has become one of the world's major floods in the 21st century. The government even appealed to the international community for help in eliminating the consequences of the rampant disaster.

The worst floods in Russia

In the regions of the Russian Federation, heavy downpours occur from time to time, which lead to a rise in water levels in rivers and create the likelihood of flooding nearby settlements. Thus, the largest floods in the world also occurred in Russia. In 2017, for example, in Stavropol, more than 40 thousand people were evacuated due to the threat of overflowing the Otkaznensky reservoir. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 5 thousand people died from the disaster, about a thousand of them were children.

Another major flood in the world (the Red Cross sent funds to help, humanitarian aid came from Azerbaijan and Belarus) happened in Krymsk on July 6-7, 2012. In the entire history of the region, this natural disaster was the most destructive. The main blow fell on Krymsk, but Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, the villages of Neberdzhaevskaya, Nizhnebakanskaya, Divnomorskoye, Kabardinka were hit hard.

53 thousand people were recognized as victims, almost 30 thousand of them lost property, one hundred and fifty-six people died. More than seven thousand private houses and 185 apartment buildings, nine healthcare facilities, fifteen boiler houses, three cultural facilities, eighteen educational institutions were destroyed, gas, water and energy supply systems, railway and road traffic were disrupted.

In May 2001, Lensk was seriously damaged by the raging disaster. The city was almost completely washed away by water: in the very first days of the flood, 98% of the territory of the settlement was under water. Eight local residents were killed, and more than five thousand houses were flooded. Lensk has already fallen victim to disasters before. In 1998, for example, due to ice jams on the Lena River, severe flooding began. The water in the river rose by eleven meters - this is a critical level. Almost 100 thousand people were affected, fifteen became victims of the flood.

In the summer of 2002, nine southern regions of the Russian Federation suffered from severe flooding. 377 settlements were under water. The most difficult situation occurred in Mineralnye Vody, where the water level in the river rose five to six meters above critical. Damage from the disaster amounted to 16 billion rubles, 300 thousand people were injured, and 114 local residents became victims.

The largest flood in the world occurred in 1931 in China. The total number of deaths is more than 4 million. The background to this terrible event is associated with unfavorable weather conditions that arose in the period from 1928 to 1930. In the winter of 1930, strong snowstorms began, and in the spring there were heavy torrential rains and a sharp thaw. In this regard, there was a sharp rise in water levels in the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers. The water level in the Yangtze River rose by 70 centimeters in July.

This led to the river quickly overflowing its banks and reaching the capital of China, the city of Nanjing. Water acted as a carrier of numerous diseases: typhoid, cholera and others. Therefore, many people died as a result of infectious diseases, others drowned. Fixed real cases cannibalism and infanticide among residents who had lost hope of salvation and fell into deep despair. Chinese sources indicate that the world's worst flood claimed the lives of 145 thousand people, while Western sources claim that the death toll is 4 million.

How events happened

In 1931, tropical downpours and prolonged torrential rains hit the Chinese provinces. As a result of the large volume of water, numerous dams were unable to cope with the huge flows. Barrier structures were simultaneously destroyed in different places. At the same time, increased activity of cyclones was observed, since there were about 7 of them in July. Given that the climate norm is 2 times a year.

The peak point of this large-scale disaster was a strong typhoon that hit one of the largest lakes in China, Gaoyou, which is located in Jiangsu province. During this period of time, the water level was at an extremely high level due to numerous rains.

The strongest wind raised high waves that crashed against various structures and dams. After midnight, a very large gap appeared, which reached 700 meters. Almost all the dams were destroyed, so the stormy stream quickly rushed into the city and destroyed everything that came in its way. About 10 thousand people died overnight.

In 1931, there was a flood that paralyzed life in northern China. The water did not leave some places for up to 6 months. People did not have enough food, typhoid and cholera epidemics broke out in the city, and there was no roof over their heads. The government at that time was concentrated by the war between the Nationalists and Communists, as well as Japanese intervention in the north. Foreign citizens and rescue missions provided assistance to the injured people. The famous pilot Charles Lindbergh and his wife took an active part in the delivery of medicines and food. Also, Lindbergh made his flights together with a Chinese doctor who provided medical care to the victims.

How it ended

With the help of two million people, China managed to cope with the disaster and its consequences. People restored the dams and infrastructure of the city. However, China faced several more major floods that destroyed the constructed dams. In 1938, there was a deliberate explosion of structures that contained the Yellow River. This made it possible to stop the advance of enemy armies during the Second World War. A huge area was flooded, resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of people.

A flood of this magnitude was not the only one in Chinese history, as the Yangtze overflowed its banks in 1911, when the death toll was 100,000. In 1935, there was a massive flood that killed 142 thousand people, and in 1954, about 30 thousand people died as a result of a natural disaster. Last time a flood occurred in 1998 with a death toll of 3,656.

During this terrible natural disaster, 330 thousand hectares of land were flooded, and 40 million people lost their homes. The harvest across a vast area was completely destroyed, and a total of 3 million people died from disease and starvation. That is why this flood is one of the largest natural disasters in the history of mankind.

You should know that such natural phenomena, which were caused by rising waters, were not uncommon in China. Monsoon rains during the summer season contributed to the disaster. In summer, winds from outside Pacific Ocean bring moist air, the accumulation of which leads to heavy rain.

In the past, floods were caused by the formation of ice dams in the upper reaches of the river. Currently, ice dams are being destroyed by bombing from aircraft. This is done well before they become dangerous. Thanks to the construction of irrigation structures in the 20th century, the threat of floods in the Huaihe River basin has been minimized.

Also, the construction of a special dam called the “Three Gorges” helped solve the problem of recurring floods. The structure was commissioned in 2012 and is one of the largest hydraulic structures in the world. The hydroelectric power plant is designed to protect land in the lower reaches of the Yantsy River, the spills of which have had catastrophic consequences and caused the death of several thousand people.

In December 2003, a memorial museum was erected in Gaoyou City to commemorate the people who were seriously affected by the 1931 flood.

Late summer 2013 on Far East A powerful flood struck, causing the worst flooding in 115 years. Flood affected five regions of the Far Eastern federal district, the total area of ​​flooded areas was more than 8 million square kilometers. In total, 37 have been flooded since the beginning of the flood. municipal districts, 235 settlements and more than 13 thousand residential buildings. Over 100 thousand people were affected. More than 23 thousand people were evacuated. The most affected were the Amur Region, which was the first to receive the blow of the disaster, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Khabarovsk Territory.

On the night of July 7, 2012 The flood flooded thousands of residential buildings in the cities of Gelendzhik, Krymsk and Novorossiysk, as well as in a number of villages in the Krasnodar Territory. Energy, gas and water supply systems, road and rail traffic were disrupted. According to the prosecutor's office, 168 people were killed and two more were missing. Most of the dead were in Krymsk, which received the heaviest impact of the disaster. In this city, 153 people died, more than 60 thousand people were considered injured. 1.69 thousand houses in the Crimean region were recognized as completely destroyed. About 6.1 thousand houses were damaged. Damage from the flood amounted to about 20 billion rubles.

In April 2004 In the Kemerovo region, a flood occurred due to a rise in the level of the local rivers Kondoma, Tom and their tributaries. More than six thousand houses were destroyed, 10 thousand people were injured, nine died. In the city of Tashtagol, located in the flood zone, and the villages closest to it, 37 pedestrian bridges were destroyed by flood waters, 80 kilometers of regional and 20 kilometers of municipal roads were damaged. The disaster also disrupted telephone communications.
The damage, according to experts, amounted to 700-750 million rubles.

In August 2002 V Krasnodar region There was a fast-moving tornado and heavy rains. In Novorossiysk, Anapa, Krymsk and 15 other settlements in the region, over 7 thousand residential buildings and administrative buildings fell into the flood zone. The disaster also damaged 83 housing and communal services facilities, 20 bridges, 87.5 kilometers of roads, 45 water intakes and 19 transformer substations. 424 residential buildings were completely destroyed. 59 people died. The forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations evacuated 2.37 thousand people from dangerous zones.

In June 2002 Nine constituent entities of the Southern Federal District suffered catastrophic flooding as a result of heavy rains. There were 377 settlements in the flood zone. The disaster destroyed 13.34 thousand houses, damaged almost 40 thousand residential buildings and 445 educational institutions. The disaster claimed the lives of 114 people and injured another 335 thousand people. Specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other ministries and departments saved a total of 62 thousand people, and over 106 thousand residents of the Southern Federal District were evacuated from dangerous zones. The damage amounted to 16 billion rubles.

July 7, 2001 In the Irkutsk region, due to heavy rains, a number of rivers overflowed their banks and flooded seven cities and 13 districts (63 settlements in total). Sayansk suffered especially. According to official data, eight people died, 300 thousand people were injured, and 4.64 thousand houses were flooded.

In May 2001 The water level in the Lena River exceeded the maximum flood and reached 20 meters. Already in the first days after the catastrophic flood, 98% of the territory of the city of Lensk was flooded. The flood practically washed Lensk off the face of the earth. More than 3.3 thousand houses were destroyed, 30.8 thousand people were injured. In total, 59 settlements in Yakutia were damaged as a result of the flood, and 5.2 thousand residential buildings were flooded. The total damage amounted to 7.08 billion rubles, including 6.2 billion rubles in the city of Lensk.

May 16 and 17, 1998 There was a severe flood in the area of ​​the city of Lensk in Yakutia. It was caused by an ice jam along the lower reaches of the Lena River, as a result of which the water level increased to 17 meters, with a critical flood level of the city of Lensk of 13.5 meters. More than 172 settlements with a population of 475 thousand people were in the flood zone. More than 50 thousand people were evacuated from the flood zone. The flood killed 15 people. Damage from the flood amounted to 872.5 million rubles.

Late summer 2013 A powerful flood hit the Far East, which led to the largest flooding in the last 115 years. The flood affected five regions of the Far Eastern Federal District, the total area of ​​flooded areas amounted to more than 8 million square kilometers. In total, since the beginning of the flood, 37 municipal districts, 235 settlements and more than 13 thousand residential buildings have been flooded. Over 100 thousand people were affected. More than 23 thousand people were evacuated. The most affected were the Amur Region, which was the first to receive the blow of the disaster, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Khabarovsk Territory.

On the night of July 7, 2012 The flood flooded thousands of residential buildings in the cities of Gelendzhik, Krymsk and Novorossiysk, as well as in a number of villages in the Krasnodar Territory. Energy, gas and water supply systems, road and rail traffic were disrupted. According to the prosecutor's office, 168 people were killed and two more were missing. Most of the dead were in Krymsk, which received the heaviest impact of the disaster. In this city, 153 people died, more than 60 thousand people were considered injured. 1.69 thousand houses in the Crimean region were recognized as completely destroyed. About 6.1 thousand houses were damaged. Damage from the flood amounted to about 20 billion rubles.

In April 2004 In the Kemerovo region, a flood occurred due to a rise in the level of the local rivers Kondoma, Tom and their tributaries. More than six thousand houses were destroyed, 10 thousand people were injured, nine died. In the city of Tashtagol, located in the flood zone, and the villages closest to it, 37 pedestrian bridges were destroyed by flood waters, 80 kilometers of regional and 20 kilometers of municipal roads were damaged. The disaster also disrupted telephone communications.
The damage, according to experts, amounted to 700-750 million rubles.

In August 2002 A fast-moving tornado and heavy rains occurred in the Krasnodar region. In Novorossiysk, Anapa, Krymsk and 15 other settlements in the region, over 7 thousand residential buildings and administrative buildings fell into the flood zone. The disaster also damaged 83 housing and communal services facilities, 20 bridges, 87.5 kilometers of roads, 45 water intakes and 19 transformer substations. 424 residential buildings were completely destroyed. 59 people died. The forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations evacuated 2.37 thousand people from dangerous zones.

In June 2002 Nine constituent entities of the Southern Federal District suffered catastrophic flooding as a result of heavy rains. There were 377 settlements in the flood zone. The disaster destroyed 13.34 thousand houses, damaged almost 40 thousand residential buildings and 445 educational institutions. The disaster claimed the lives of 114 people and injured another 335 thousand people. Specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other ministries and departments saved a total of 62 thousand people, and over 106 thousand residents of the Southern Federal District were evacuated from dangerous zones. The damage amounted to 16 billion rubles.

July 7, 2001 In the Irkutsk region, due to heavy rains, a number of rivers overflowed their banks and flooded seven cities and 13 districts (63 settlements in total). Sayansk suffered especially. According to official data, eight people died, 300 thousand people were injured, and 4.64 thousand houses were flooded.

In May 2001 The water level in the Lena River exceeded the maximum flood and reached 20 meters. Already in the first days after the catastrophic flood, 98% of the territory of the city of Lensk was flooded. The flood practically washed Lensk off the face of the earth. More than 3.3 thousand houses were destroyed, 30.8 thousand people were injured. In total, 59 settlements in Yakutia were damaged as a result of the flood, and 5.2 thousand residential buildings were flooded. The total damage amounted to 7.08 billion rubles, including 6.2 billion rubles in the city of Lensk.

May 16 and 17, 1998 There was a severe flood in the area of ​​the city of Lensk in Yakutia. It was caused by an ice jam along the lower reaches of the Lena River, as a result of which the water level increased to 17 meters, with a critical flood level of the city of Lensk of 13.5 meters. More than 172 settlements with a population of 475 thousand people were in the flood zone. More than 50 thousand people were evacuated from the flood zone. The flood killed 15 people. Damage from the flood amounted to 872.5 million rubles.

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1. St. Petersburg flood, 1824

Interestingly, before the founding of St. Petersburg, the largest flood in the Neva delta occurred in 1691, when this territory was under the control of the Kingdom of Sweden. This incident is mentioned in Swedish chronicles. According to some reports, that year the water level in the Neva reached 762 centimeters.

2. Flood in China, 1931

3. Yellow River Flood, 1887 and 1938

Yellow River Yellow River:

At least 100 thousand dead. On Saturday, November 5, 1530, the day of Saint Felix de Valois, most of Flanders, the historical region of the Netherlands, and the province of Zealand were washed away. Researchers believe that more than 100 thousand people died. Subsequently, the day when the disaster occurred began to be called Evil Saturday.

5. Burchardi flood, 1634

6. Flood of St. Mary Magdalene, 1342

On this day, the overflowing waters of the rivers Rhine, Moselle, Main, Danube, Weser, Werra, Unstrut, Elbe, Vltava and their tributaries flooded the surrounding lands. Many cities, such as Cologne, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Würzburg, Regensburg, Passau and Vienna, were seriously damaged.

Water is not only a vital liquid for humans, but also a destructive element that can wipe cities off the face of the earth in a matter of hours. While seismologists are developing technologies to predict earthquakes and work is underway to predict hurricanes in areas often prone to this disaster, predicting flooding is sometimes impossible. Floods have become tragedies for many countries around the world, and today we will talk about the most famous of them...

St. Petersburg, 1824

The most severe flood in St. Petersburg occurred on November 7 (old style) 1824. On this day, the maximum water rise level reached 410 cm above normal.

Already on November 6th it was blowing from the bay strong wind. By evening the weather became even worse and the water began to rise. At night a real storm broke out. Early in the morning, signal lights were lit on the Admiralty Tower, warning city residents about the threat of flooding. Eyewitnesses recall that careless St. Petersburg residents, waking up and seeing the water rising in the canals, hurried to the banks of the Neva to admire the elements.

But even when the residents of the Admiralty part of the city did not yet expect a great misfortune, the low-lying areas located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland were already flooded. A few hours later, the Neva, as well as other rivers and canals, overflowed their banks even where there were high embankments. The entire city, with the exception of the Foundry and Rozhdestvenskaya parts, was flooded with water almost as tall as a person.

People fled from the raging disaster as best they could. Low wooden houses suffered especially, which were simply carried away by the pressure of the water. Someone climbed onto the roof, onto high bridges, someone swam on gates, logs, grabbing onto the manes of horses. Many, rushing to save their property in the basements, died. At about two o'clock in the afternoon, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count M. Miloradovich, appeared on Nevsky Prospekt on a large boat, trying to cheer up the residents and provide them with at least some help.

Another eyewitness to the flood left the following memories about it:

"It is impossible to describe this spectacle. The Winter Palace stood like a rock in the middle of a stormy sea, withstanding the onslaught of waves from all sides, crashing with a roar against its strong walls and watering them with splashes almost to the top floor; on the Neva, the water boiled as if in a cauldron, and with incredible force reversed the flow of the river; two heavy boats landed on the granite parapet opposite the Summer Garden, barges and other ships rushed like chips up the river...

In the square opposite the palace there is a different picture: under an almost black sky, dark greenish water was spinning as if in a huge whirlpool; Wide sheets of iron, torn from the roof of the new building of the General Staff, were flying through the air... the storm played with them like fluff..."

By three o'clock in the afternoon the water began to subside, and at night the streets were completely cleared of water. It was difficult to calculate the exact number of flood victims; different figures were given: from 400 to 4 thousand people. Material damage was estimated at many millions of rubles.

The disaster once again made us think about the need to protect St. Petersburg from rising waters. Various projects appeared: some involved turning the Neva Bay into an artificial lake, which would be separated from the Gulf of Finland by a dam with holes for the passage of ships. According to others, the creation of protective structures was envisaged at the mouth of the Neva. But none of the projects were implemented.

The development of science has made it possible to more accurately determine the cause of sudden Neva floods. Now no one seriously discussed the hypothesis that the rise of water was caused by its influx from Lake Ladoga. Data accumulated over many years have led to the conclusion that real reason floods - in the resulting Gulf of Finland waves.

In a wide bay this wave is invisible, but as the bay narrows towards the confluence of the Neva, the wave becomes higher. If a strong wind from the bay is added to this, then the water rises to a critical level, and it is in such cases that the Neva overflows its banks.

After the flood of 1824, the city experienced many more large rises in water, but the level of 1824 remained a record.

Gaoyu, 1931

The largest rivers in China, the Yangtze and Yellow River, or Yellow River, have long been known for their floods, which have brought enormous disasters. In August 1931, both of them, along with the Huaihe River, overflowed their banks, and in densely populated China this led to a huge disaster.

In the summer, when southeast winds begin to blow, they bring with them humid air from the Pacific Ocean, and it accumulates over the territory of China. As a result, the area receives heavy rainfall, especially in June, July and August.

The summer monsoon period of 1931 was unusually stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged across river basins. The dams withstood intense rain and storms for weeks, but they eventually gave way and collapsed in hundreds of places.

Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and crop losses were enormous. Over large areas, the water did not recede for three to six months. Diseases, food shortages, and lack of shelter led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.

One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyou in the northern province of Jiangsu. A powerful typhoon hit China's fifth largest lake, Gaoyu, on August 26, 1931. Its water level has already risen to record heights as a result of heavy rains in previous weeks.

A squally wind raised high waves that crashed against the dams. After midnight the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest gap reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.

The disaster gave no respite to those who survived the disaster. Large sections of levees have failed again and again, including in 1938, 1954 and 1998. In 1938, the dams were deliberately breached to stop the Japanese advance.

In December 2003, a memorial museum was opened in Gaoyou City, which was severely damaged by severe floods in 1931.

Mississippi, 1927

Mississippi - legendary river U.S.A. Throughout history, its spills have always been destructive. But the worst, and perhaps the most serious, that the country experienced before Hurricane Katrina arrived was the 1927 flood known as the Great Mississippi Flood.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, attempts have been made to control fluctuations in water levels, and for this purpose, dams and locks were built on the river. At the beginning of 1926 it rained frequently, and the water level in the river rose steadily. Representatives in the spring engineering troops made assurances that the built levees, dams and locks were capable of withstanding the wayward Mississippi. And what could be argued if they actually created a system of protective structures.

In mid-April it became obvious that the dams would not be able to contain the pressure of water in conditions of incessant rain, and then they discovered that miscalculations had been made and the measures taken were insufficient. Only the work listed above was completed.

No one thought that artificial canals and canals were also needed to drain river water. Even the civilian engineers who took part in this work criticized such short-sightedness, although military engineers considered such measures unnecessary. In Mississippi, however, the danger was real.

Not only was the flood a natural disaster, it also added to the shameful racial politics of the time. In Greenville, famous for its large cotton plantations and considered the source of Southern wealth, Governor Leroy Percy forced black plantation workers and black prisoners to strengthen levees at police gunpoint.

The plantation workers, 30,000 of them, lived in what looked like a concentration camp. And at this time white population(who had such an opportunity) hurried north, away from danger.

At 8 a.m. on April 21, Greenville's levees gave way. The flow knew no barriers. At incredible speed, water flooded several states: Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee. In some places, the depth of flooding reached 10 m. Highways, bridges and railroads were flooded with the waters of the mighty Mississippi.

In the delta, 13,000 black men, women and children were stranded. The head of the Red Cross department, the governor's son Will Percy, proposed sending these people by ship to the northern states, where there was no danger. But his father and the plantation owners refused, fearing that the workers would not return. At the same time, the white population was evacuated from the delta region.

Along the entire length of the river, 150 dams could not withstand the pressure of the overflowing waters. In some places, the Mississippi flooded 125 km. The actions taken by the authorities were wrong, in particular this concerns the undermining of part of the dams around New Orleans in order to prevent its flooding.

As a result, the water did not reach the city, but, since the dams were destroyed, it flooded neighboring cities and sown fields. In mid-August the rains stopped and the water began to subside.

During all these terrible months, an area of ​​70,000 km2 remained flooded; 246 people died, most of them black; 700,000 were internally displaced; 130,000 homes were destroyed and property damage exceeded $400 million.

Johnstown, 1889

Johnstown is located in Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794 by European colonists, the city began to develop rapidly when a railroad was built to it in 1834. At the time of the disaster, 30,000 people lived in the city.

Johnstown is located in the Conemah River Valley, surrounded by high hills and the Allegheny Mountains. The city largely owed its prosperity to the river, but it also created a threat to it, overflowing its banks as a result of heavy rains. Winters became a severe test for the city, since snow in the mountains often interfered with communication with the rest of the world.

Until the historic flood of 1889, river floods did not cause too much trouble in the city. The first flood, reflected in the personal diaries of European settlers, occurred in 1808. And from that time on, every ten years a significant rise in water in Conemah caused trouble for the city, but residents did not have to face such problems as in 1889.

The storm, which originated over the states of Nebraska and Kansas, began moving east on May 28. Two days later it hit Johnstown and the Conemah River Valley with a torrential downpour. The amount of precipitation that fell per day broke all records: 150-250 mm. On the night of May 30, the situation became critical when the surrounding small rivers and streams gradually began to turn into torrential torrents that uprooted trees and demolished telegraph poles.

The next morning the railroad track was under water, and Conemah was ready to overflow its banks at any moment. During the first half of the day on May 31, the water level continued to rise. In the middle of the day the situation became even more complicated.

Located 23 km upstream, the South Fork dam could not withstand the pressure, and the waters of Lake Conemah poured into the river, overflowing it, and a rapid stream rushed into the city at a speed of more than 60 km/hour, sweeping away everything in its path.

Buildings collapsed under the impact of the debris that the rebellious river carried with it, and very few of them were able to stand. In a matter of minutes, parts of the city found themselves under an eighteen-meter layer of water. Survivors of the flood had to spend hours, or even days, on the roofs of surviving houses or swim, clinging to doors, windows or tree trunks - to anything that made it possible to escape.

The failure of the South Fork Dam sparked fierce controversy after the disaster. Built between 1838-1853 as part of state system channels, it was sold shortly after opening to private companies. It was surrounded by luxurious homes and restaurants, not to mention a hunting club built for the benefit of local tycoons, but the dam itself was neglected and deteriorating.

Residents of the city complained to the mayor and the owners of the dam about cracks that appeared in it. Repair work has been carried out, but its quality is highly questionable.

The merciless flood claimed the lives of 2,200 people, of whom 750 could not be identified, and destroyed 10,600 buildings. An area of ​​10 km2 was completely devastated. The disaster destroyed bridges and railroads vital to Johnstown's economy. The damage was estimated at an astronomical amount for those times - over $17 million.

For several months, more than 7,000 people worked to restore the city and provide assistance to the victims. Russia, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Australia, Germany and twelve other countries sent money, food, clothing and building materials to Jonestown.

In providing assistance to victims, the work of the head and founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton, should be especially noted. Work in Johnstown was the first experience of this organization's participation in providing relief after natural disasters. Barton and her volunteers spent five months in Johnstown.

Zealand, 1953

A rare coincidence of the onset of a spring tide and a northwest storm caused catastrophic flooding in the Dutch province of Zeeland. In order to prevent such disasters, huge amounts of money have been invested in the Delta Project, which can protect the Netherlands from the harmful effects of floods.

Over the centuries, the islands located in the south of the Dutch provinces of Zeeland and South Holland have repeatedly suffered from severe floods. Some of the most devastating were the St. Elizabeth's Day flood of 1421, which killed an estimated 2,000 people, and the All Hallow's Day flood of 1570, which killed some 20,000 people.

Disasters of a less destructive scale - such as the flood of 1916 - have occurred repeatedly in Holland. Due to the existing threat of flooding, the dams were equipped with warning systems. By coincidence, two days before the 1953 flood, due to the real threat of flooding the mainland, the Ministry public works and water management made a proposal to close a number of locks.

By midday on Saturday 31 January, the Royal Meteorological Institute reported a severe storm approaching from the north-west. By that time, he had already swept along the coast of Scotland and was now moving straight towards the Netherlands.

In turn, meteorological services, having received the information, issued a warning by radio and also sent a telex to water monitoring services in the cities of Rotterdam, Willemstad, Bergen op Zoom and Gorinchem. Knowing that the storm could begin later in the night, the meteorological institute's staff took great pains to ensure that their warning was constantly broadcast by radio until dawn.

For most of the inhabitants of Zealand, radio was the only means of communication with outside world. But none of the radio stations worked at night, usually ending their broadcasts at midnight with the national anthem. At the radio station in Hilversum it was decided that they would not make any exceptions that night.

The storm hit the coast and islands while most residents were in bed. Due to the fact that in the memory of many it was far from the first, the storm did not cause much concern among people that time either. However, during the night the storm reached its maximum strength. Wind speeds exceeded 11 on the Beaufort scale, reaching speeds of 144 km/h. Coinciding with the beginning of the spring tide, when the water level in the sea reaches its maximum level, a hurricane wind drove huge waves towards the land.

By the middle of the night, instruments recorded 455 cm above sea level. Unable to withstand such a powerful pressure, the dams collapsed one after another. The sound of the wind, rapidly rising water, and the screams of frightened neighbors forced people to hastily leave their beds. Many tried to escape by climbing to higher ground or heading to nearby farms and churches. Those who did not have time were forced to climb into the attic or roof of their own house. Surrounded on all sides by the raging sea, thousands of people spent there not only the rest of the night, but also the morning of the next day.

By midday the situation had only worsened. The spring tide brought a new wave, which was significantly higher than the previous one. As a result, many people were washed away from the roofs of their own houses, finding themselves in icy water, and drowned. Others managed to escape and swam for a long time, clinging to a non-sinking piece of debris or a piece of wood.

For many, the events had very tragic consequences - the death of loved ones. Finding themselves in the cold, without food, without water, without hope of salvation, children and the elderly were more often than others among those who did not have enough strength to fight the elements.

Large-scale rescue operations began only in the second half of Sunday, but, unfortunately, help came too late for many victims. At that time, much of the modern arsenal of rescue equipment - such as helicopters - was not yet available, and people had to be rescued using small fishing boats. In total, over 70,000 people were evacuated, but most took more than 18 months before they could return to their homes.

Over 170,000 hectares of land were under water, about 10,000 houses were completely destroyed, and 35,000 were seriously damaged. About 40,000 head of cattle and 165,000 poultry drowned. The damage caused by the disaster was estimated at millions of guilders (the currency of the Netherlands at that time).

The province of South Holland (especially the island of Overflokke), as well as parts of North Brabant bordering Zealand, were seriously affected. On the island of Texel, located in the north of the Netherlands, 1 person was injured by flooding, 14 died in Belgium, 216 in England. A passenger ferry with 134 people on board sank in the Irish Sea.

The largest events to raise money to help the victims were held in the Netherlands. Vast amounts of clothing, furniture, and money were collected through the "Let's Seal the Dams with Our Wallets" campaign, which was largely carried out through radio broadcasting.

Help also came from abroad; many volunteers arrived in the country, among whom were office workers, doctors, and nurses. Scandinavia provided assistance in the form of prefabricated houses: in the province of Zealand they soon discovered that they could be erected in a surprisingly short time, and their quality turned out to be very high. Some of them can still be seen today.

For the Dutch government, the flood provided the impetus for the development and accelerated implementation of a work plan called "Delta". River deltas were blocked off against storm surge by barrier dams and fences. The sluice structures, when the need arose, could be raised or lowered, thereby allowing the height of the water to be adjusted. 1958 marked the beginning of construction, and in 1989 the construction of the last dam was completed.

At the initial cost estimate of the project in euro terms, it was supposed to spend 1.5 billion, but after construction was completed, the figure exceeded 5 billion. The dam in the Eastern Scheldt became a unique structure. By row environmental reasons in 1976, it was decided to equip the dam with 62 sluice holes, each 40 m wide. If there is a threat of high water, they can be closed.

Dayton, 1913

The causes of the March flood of 1913 appeared several months before this event. As follows from private records and newspaper reports, the New Year brought heavy rain to Kentucky and its neighboring states. The combination of low pressure and unusually high temperatures created ideal conditions for such weather. The atmospheric front moved through Kentucky for several weeks, then moved to Ohio, Illinois and reached Indiana by the end of January.

But heavy rains only started to become a concern in mid-March. Ohio residents are accustomed to spring river floods, but this time it was clear that an unusual situation was developing. The rains that continued for several weeks clearly threatened disastrous floods: on Easter week 1913, the rivers overflowed their banks.

Different places have different dates: in some places the flood began on March 21st, and in others on March 23rd. This time, the floods did not spare the cities, which usually did not know such troubles. An example is the city of Akron, which never suffered from spills because it was located on a hill.

Rainfall in Kentucky and Ohio was three times the average for this time of year. The greatest damage was caused by the Ohio River in the state of the same name, although its tributaries, the Miami and Muskingum, also contributed. The authorities were unable to quickly assess the situation, and in some places the measures taken were insufficient.

By this time, few diversion canals had been built, but those that existed were destroyed in an unsuccessful attempt to contain the rise of water. Moreover, it later turned out that they could not be restored. This flood was the worst of all that occurred in the states of Ohio and Indiana, as well as parts of Illinois and New York.

In prosperous Dayton, levees and embankments failed to protect against rising water, and the center was flooded to a height of 6 m. Fast-moving flows knocked out gas lines, causing several fires that could not be extinguished in time due to the fact that firefighters could not reach them. Dayton was in chaos.

It should be noted one of the most notable personalities of the city, John Patterson, who opened his factories and banks to organize shelters in them, and independently organized teams of rescuers and doctors to provide assistance. The merits of people like Patterson cannot be overestimated, and their role was especially important in the early days, when the activities of officials were strikingly helpless.

The authorities were unable to respond in a timely manner to requests from thousands of residents, especially in the states of Ohio and Indiana. The situation in the Muskingum and Miami river valleys was even worse than in Dayton. After four days of heavy rain in the Muskingum Valley, the river overflowed its banks, and thousands of valley residents fled to the hills to escape the chaos.

The towns located in the valley had neither electricity nor drinking water, and just like in Dayton, firefighters were powerless in the face of rushing streams at breakneck speed. In Zanesville, Muskingum rose to an incredible height of 15m and flooded 3,400 homes. In Coshocton most historical center disappeared under three meters of water. Eight people were killed in the valley and property damage amounted to several million dollars.

The Miami River also caused trouble in its valley. It rained here non-stop for three days. In previous years, most of the flooded area was covered with ice, but this time, due to unusually high February temperatures, no ice formed. And this was very helpful, because the consequences could have been even more serious if the ground had frozen and could not absorb water. It was estimated that in three days the river carried through Dayton an amount of water equal to the flow of Niagara Falls in 30 days. And such a comparison gives a complete picture of the scale of the flooding.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of Indiana was flooded. In Indianapolis, the waters of the White River rose by 9 m, and a similar situation arose in neighboring cities. A record level of water rise - at least 19 m - was recorded in Cincinnati, where the city center was under water, and many buildings were completely flooded. The dams holding back the White River and its tributaries were unable to cope with their task.

According to official figures, the death toll is 428 people, but the real figure is believed to be higher and closer to 1000. More than 300,000 people lost their homes. Overflowing rivers destroyed 30,000 buildings, hundreds of bridges and caused serious damage to infrastructure. The material damage was very significant: about $100 million in 1913 prices.

Netherlands, 1287

The Saint Lucia Flood was a major flooding of the German and Dutch coasts of the North Sea that occurred on December 14, 1287. It killed about 50 thousand people and left enormous destruction. Many villages drowned in water. In East Frisia alone, more than 30 villages were affected. Due to the loss of a large amount of land and the relative insecurity of the marches, many residents moved to higher ground.

In the Netherlands, the Saint Lucia flood turned the former Lake Zuiderzee into a North Sea bay. Only in 1932, as a result of the construction of the Afsluitdijk dam (as part of the Zuiderzee project), the bay was again turned into a freshwater artificial lake IJsselmeer.

189 years ago, the largest flood in the history of St. Petersburg occurred. In memory of this event, I will tell you about it and other deadliest floods in the world.

About 200-600 dead. On November 19, 1824, a flood occurred in St. Petersburg, which killed hundreds of human lives and destroyed many houses. Then the water level in the Neva River and its canals rose 4.14 - 4.21 meters above the normal level (ordinary).
Memorial plaque on the Raskolnikov House:

Before the flood began, it was raining and a damp and cold wind was blowing in the city. And in the evening there was a sharp rise in the water level in the canals, after which almost the entire city was flooded. The flood did not affect only the Liteinaya, Rozhdestvenskaya and Karetnaya parts of St. Petersburg. As a result, material damage from the flood amounted to about 15-20 million rubles, and about 200-600 people died.

One way or another, this is not the only flood that occurred in St. Petersburg. In total, the city on the Neva was flooded more than 330 times. In memory of many floods in the city, memorial plaques have been installed (there are more than 20 of them). In particular, a sign is dedicated to the largest flood in the city, which is located at the intersection of the Kadetskaya Line and Bolshoy Prospekt of Vasilievsky Island.
St. Petersburg flood of 1824. Author of the painting: Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseev (1753-1824):

Interestingly, before the founding of St. Petersburg, the largest flood in the Neva delta occurred in 1691, when this territory was under the control of the Kingdom of Sweden. This incident is mentioned in Swedish chronicles. According to some reports, that year the water level in the Neva reached 762 centimeters.

About 145 thousand - 4 million dead. From 1928 to 1930, China suffered from severe drought. But at the end of the winter of 1930, strong snowstorms began, and in the spring there were incessant heavy rains and a thaw, which caused the water level in the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers to rise significantly. For example, in the Yangtze River the water rose by 70 cm in July alone.

As a result, the river overflowed its banks and soon reached the city of Nanjing, which was at that time the capital of China. Many people drowned and died from waterborne infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid. There are known cases of cannibalism and infanticide among desperate residents.
According to Chinese sources, about 145 thousand people died as a result of the flood, while Western sources claim that the death toll was between 3.7 million and 4 million.
By the way, this was not the only flood in China caused by the waters of the Yangtze River overflowing its banks. Floods also occurred in 1911 (about 100 thousand people died), in 1935 (about 142 thousand people died), in 1954 (about 30 thousand people died) and in 1998 (3,656 people died). It is considered the largest natural disaster in recorded human history.
Flood victims, August 1931:

About 900 thousand and 500 thousand died, respectively. In 1887, heavy rains fell for many days in Henan Province, and on September 28, rising water in the Yellow River broke the dams. Soon the water reached the city of Zhengzhou, located in this province, and then spread across the entire northern part of China, covering approximately 130,000 sq. km. Due to the flood, about two million people in China were left homeless and approximately 900 thousand people died.
And in 1938, a flood on the same river was caused by the Nationalist government in Central China at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War. This was done in order to stop Japanese troops rapidly advancing into central China. The flood was subsequently called "the largest act of environmental warfare in history."
Thus, in June 1938, the Japanese took control of the entire northern part of China, and on June 6 they captured Kaifeng, the capital of Henan Province, and threatened to capture Zhengzhou, which was located near the intersection of important railways Beijing-Guangzhou and Lianyungang-Xi'an. If Japanese army managed to do this, such large Chinese cities as Wuhan and Xi'an would be under threat.
In order to prevent this, the Chinese government in Central China decided to open dams on the Yellow River near the city of Zhengzhou. Water flooded the provinces of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu adjacent to the river.
Soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army during the flood on the Yellow River in 1938:

The floods destroyed thousands of square kilometers of farmland and many villages. Several million people became refugees. According to initial data from China, about 800 thousand people drowned. However, today, researchers studying the archives of the disaster claim that many died less people- about 400 - 500 thousand.
Yellow River Yellow River:

Interestingly, the value of this Chinese government strategy has been questioned. Because according to some reports, Japanese troops at that time were far from the flooded areas. Although their advance on Zhengzhou was thwarted, the Japanese took Wuhan in October.
4. Flood of St. Felix, 1530
At least 100 thousand dead. On Saturday 5 November 1530, Saint Felix de Valois's day, most of Flanders, the historical region of the Netherlands, and the province of Zealand were washed away. Researchers believe that more than 100 thousand people died. Subsequently, the day when the disaster occurred began to be called Evil Saturday.

About 8-15 thousand dead. On the night of October 11–12, 1634, flooding occurred in Germany and Denmark as a result of a storm surge caused by hurricane winds. That night, dams broke in several places along the North Sea coast, flooding coastal towns and communities in North Friesland.
Painting depicting the Burchardi flood:

According to various estimates, from 8 to 15 thousand people died during the flood.
Maps of North Friesland in 1651 (left) and 1240 (right):

Several thousand. In July 1342, on the feast day of the Myrrh-Bearer Mary Magdalene (the Catholic and Lutheran churches celebrate it on July 22), the largest recorded flood in Central Europe occurred.
On this day, the overflowing waters of the rivers Rhine, Moselle, Main, Danube, Weser, Werra, Unstrut, Elbe, Vltava and their tributaries flooded the surrounding lands. Many cities, such as Cologne, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Würzburg, Regensburg, Passau and Vienna, were seriously damaged.
Danube River in Regensburg, Germany:

According to researchers of this disaster, a long hot and dry period was followed by heavy rains that fell for several days in a row. As a result, about half of the average annual precipitation fell. And since the extremely dry soil could not quickly absorb such an amount of water, surface runoff flooded large areas of the territory. Many buildings were destroyed and thousands of people died. Although the total number of deaths is unknown, it is believed that about 6 thousand people drowned in the Danube region alone.
Besides, summer next year It was wet and cold, so the population was left without crops and suffered greatly from hunger. And on top of everything else, the plague pandemic, which passed through Asia, Europe, North Africa and the island of Greenland (Black Death) in the mid-14th century, reached its peak in 1348-1350, taking the lives of at least a third of the population of Central Europe.
Also see the articles “The 10 Largest Meteorites That Fell to Earth” and “The Seven Great Conquests of Man.”
Illustration of the Black Death, 1411:

Floods and other elements have screamed their power since the beginning of time. Often, not only the creations of human hands, but also the people themselves were under their destructive influence. For many centuries in a row, humanity suffered from floods of various scales, which deprived people not only of housing and a roof over their heads, but also of life. Very often people are not ready for such tests and the elements bring a large number of victims, but those who managed to cope with the cataclysm and survive such terrible disaster, once again confirm how brave and strong a person can be morally and physically. During the heavy rainy season, you begin to think about how much trouble water can bring. A person cannot predict when the next flood will occur and what damage it will cause, but he can remember the terrifying pages of history that “drowned” in the water.

1. Such natural disasters have happened in Russia, in particular, one of the most famous floods was in St. Petersburg. Total cultural capital The Russian Federation has experienced dozens of major floods, but the worst and most famous one dates back to 1824. A little less than two hundred years ago, due to a rise in the water level in the Neva by more than four meters, according to various sources, from 200 to 600 thousand citizens died, and the damage amounted to up to 20 million rubles. They say that before the river flooded, heavy, continuous rain began, which led to a sharp rise in water. As a result, countless homes, buildings and other objects were destroyed and flooded. To this day, more than twenty signs with water level marks have been preserved throughout the city in memory of many floods; in total there are about 330 of them in St. Petersburg.

2. The St. Mary Magdalene flood of 1342 is considered the worst disaster in Central Europe. Heavy torrential rains, lasting for several days in a row, led to an increase in water levels in several rivers at once: the Rhine, Weser, Main, Moselle, Werre, Elbe and more. Water flooded the surroundings of such large European cities as Cologne, Passau, Vienna, Regensburg, Frankfurt am Main. The exact number of victims is not known, however, it is assumed that their number is at least several thousand.

3. The flood of 1534 in Denmark and Germany, called the Burchardi flood, claimed more than eight thousand lives. Here, the cause of the cataclysm was a strong hurricane wind, which led to a storm surge of water and a dam breach in several places and the North Sea coast. The communities of North Frisia and many coastal towns were flooded.

4. One of the most famous and largest rivers in China, the Yellow River is famous for its arbitrary and capricious “temper” and frequent floods; its waters have repeatedly brought tragedy to many homes, and the number of victims amounts to millions of families. The largest spills were recorded in 1887 and 1938, when about 900 and 500 thousand people died, respectively. But if in the first case the floods followed multiple dam breaks after prolonged rains, then in the second the disaster was provoked by the nationalist government in order to stop the advance of Japanese troops. Millions of people were forced to leave their homes to escape, and dozens of entire villages and thousands of hectares of agricultural land were under water.

5. As for the cataclysms of the last century, historians note, again, China. In 1934, the Yangtze River overflowed its banks, taking with it the lives of an estimated four million people. After the Flood, this is considered the most catastrophic and large-scale natural phenomenon. As a result of the flood, four million houses and three hundred thousand square meters were flooded. kilometers of land.

6. The 1927 flood in America is called the “Great Flood.” After prolonged heavy rains, the Mississippi River overflowed, flooding an area of ​​ten states. In some places, the water reached a height of ten meters and the government decided to blow up a dam near the city to avoid flooding of New Orleans, which led to further flooding in other areas. According to various estimates, about half a million people died as a result of the flood.

7. One of the most terrible floods on the territory of modern Holland is the Zeeland disaster of 1953. It was caused by the coincidence of a spring tide and a strong storm. And although the local residents were calm, because for many years they had paid enough attention to protection from natural disasters and were confident that the constructed structures would protect them from any storm, they could not avoid the sad consequences. At a speed of 150 kilometers per hour, billions of cubic meters of water rushed onto the land; in the blink of an eye, the raging sea reached the roofs of the tallest city buildings, wiping out more than 130 settlements along the way. The damage was estimated at millions of guilders, only 7 thousand people were evacuated, about two thousand local residents died as a result of the flooding, and many went missing.

10. One of the most destructive natural disasters today is considered a tsunami in Indian Ocean, which subsequently affected the coasts of Indonesia, South India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The underwater earthquake generated a powerful tsunami, the number of victims is estimated at 230 thousand people.

Oksana Lugovaya

189 years ago, the largest flood in the history of St. Petersburg occurred. To commemorate this event, we cover it and other of the world's deadliest floods.

1. St. Petersburg flood, 1824
About 200-600 dead. On November 19, 1824, a flood occurred in St. Petersburg, which killed hundreds of people and destroyed many houses. Then the water level in the Neva River and its canals rose 4.14 - 4.21 meters above the normal level (ordinary).
Memorial plaque on the Raskolnikov House:

Before the flood began, it was raining and a damp and cold wind was blowing in the city. And in the evening there was a sharp rise in the water level in the canals, after which almost the entire city was flooded. The flood did not affect only the Liteinaya, Rozhdestvenskaya and Karetnaya parts of St. Petersburg. As a result, material damage from the flood amounted to about 15-20 million rubles, and about 200-600 people died.

One way or another, this is not the only flood that occurred in St. Petersburg. In total, the city on the Neva was flooded more than 330 times. In memory of many floods in the city, memorial plaques have been installed (there are more than 20 of them). In particular, a sign is dedicated to the largest flood in the city, which is located at the intersection of the Kadetskaya Line and Bolshoy Prospekt of Vasilievsky Island.

Interestingly, before the founding of St. Petersburg, the largest flood in the Neva delta occurred in 1691, when this territory was under the control of the Kingdom of Sweden. This incident is mentioned in Swedish chronicles. According to some reports, that year the water level in the Neva reached 762 centimeters.

2. Flood in China, 1931
About 145 thousand - 4 million dead. From 1928 to 1930, China suffered from severe drought. But at the end of the winter of 1930, strong snowstorms began, and in the spring there were incessant heavy rains and a thaw, which caused the water level in the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers to rise significantly. For example, in the Yangtze River the water rose by 70 cm in July alone.

As a result, the river overflowed its banks and soon reached the city of Nanjing, which was at that time the capital of China. Many people drowned and died from waterborne infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid. There are known cases of cannibalism and infanticide among desperate residents.
According to Chinese sources, about 145 thousand people died as a result of the flood, while Western sources claim that the death toll was between 3.7 million and 4 million.

By the way, this was not the only flood in China caused by the waters of the Yangtze River overflowing its banks. Floods also occurred in 1911 (about 100 thousand people died), in 1935 (about 142 thousand people died), in 1954 (about 30 thousand people died) and in 1998 (3,656 people died). It is considered the largest natural disaster in recorded human history.

Flood victims, August 1931:

3. Yellow River Flood, 1887 and 1938
About 900 thousand and 500 thousand died, respectively. In 1887, heavy rains fell for many days in Henan Province, and on September 28, rising water in the Yellow River broke the dams. Soon the water reached the city of Zhengzhou, located in this province, and then spread across the entire northern part of China, covering approximately 130,000 sq. km. Due to the flood, about two million people in China were left homeless and approximately 900 thousand people died.

And in 1938, a flood on the same river was caused by the Nationalist government in Central China at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War. This was done in order to stop Japanese troops rapidly advancing into central China. The flood was subsequently called "the largest act of environmental warfare in history."

Thus, in June 1938, the Japanese took control of the entire northern part of China, and on June 6 they captured Kaifeng, the capital of Henan Province, and threatened to capture Zhengzhou, which was located near the intersection of the important Beijing-Guangzhou and Lianyungang-Xi'an railways. If the Japanese army had managed to do this, major Chinese cities such as Wuhan and Xi'an would have been under threat.

In order to prevent this, the Chinese government in Central China decided to open dams on the Yellow River near the city of Zhengzhou. Water flooded the provinces of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu adjacent to the river.

Soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army during the flood on the Yellow River in 1938:

The floods destroyed thousands of square kilometers of farmland and many villages. Several million people became refugees. According to initial data from China, about 800 thousand people drowned. However, these days, researchers studying the archives of the disaster claim that much fewer people died - about 400 - 500 thousand.

Yellow River Yellow River:

Interestingly, the value of this Chinese government strategy has been questioned. Because according to some reports, Japanese troops at that time were far from the flooded areas. Although their advance on Zhengzhou was thwarted, the Japanese took Wuhan in October.
4. Flood of St. Felix, 1530

At least 100 thousand dead. On Saturday November 5, 1530, Saint Felix de Valois's day, most of Flanders, the historical region of the Netherlands, and the province of Zealand were washed away. Researchers believe that more than 100 thousand people died. Subsequently, the day when the disaster occurred began to be called Evil Saturday.

5. Burchardi flood, 1634
About 8-15 thousand dead. On the night of October 11–12, 1634, flooding occurred in Germany and Denmark as a result of a storm surge caused by hurricane winds. That night, dams broke in several places along the North Sea coast, flooding coastal towns and communities in North Friesland.

Painting depicting the Burchardi flood:

According to various estimates, from 8 to 15 thousand people died during the flood.
Maps of North Friesland in 1651 (left) and 1240 (right):

6. Flood of St. Mary Magdalene, 1342
Several thousand. In July 1342, on the feast day of the Myrrh-Bearer Mary Magdalene (the Catholic and Lutheran churches celebrate it on July 22), the largest recorded flood in Central Europe occurred.

On this day, the overflowing waters of the rivers Rhine, Moselle, Main, Danube, Weser, Werra, Unstrut, Elbe, Vltava and their tributaries flooded the surrounding lands. Many cities, such as Cologne, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Würzburg, Regensburg, Passau and Vienna, were seriously damaged.
Danube River in Regensburg, Germany:

According to researchers of this disaster, a long hot and dry period was followed by heavy rains that fell for several days in a row. As a result, about half of the average annual precipitation fell. And since the extremely dry soil could not quickly absorb such an amount of water, surface runoff flooded large areas of the territory. Many buildings were destroyed and thousands of people died. Although the total number of deaths is unknown, it is believed that about 6 thousand people drowned in the Danube region alone.
In addition, the summer of the following year was wet and cold, so the population was left without crops and suffered greatly from hunger. And on top of everything else, the plague pandemic, which passed through Asia, Europe, North Africa and the island of Greenland (Black Death) in the mid-14th century, reached its peak in 1348-1350, taking the lives of at least a third of the population of Central Europe.