THE BIGGEST NATURAL DISASTERS IN HISTORY

It's hard to imagine several hundred thousand people losing their lives from a single tropical cyclone , but in November 1970, that is exactly what happened. The November 11, 1970 " BHOLA CYCLONE " moved into East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh , and produced devastating storm surge flooding.   As a result, at least 30.000 people   in the low-lying region near the Bangladesh coast were killed by massive flooding from the powerful cyclone .  The actual number of people killed varies by source and could be as high as 500,000 . Using either figure, this is the deadliest known tropical cyclone in history.

The CHICAGO FIRE   of 1871 , also called the Great Chicago Fire, burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an estimated $200 million in damages. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even a meteor might have been responsible for the event that left an area of about four miles long and almost a mile wide of the Windy City , including its business district, in ruins. Following the blaze, reconstruction efforts began quickly and spurred great economic development and population growth.

In December 1916 a series of DEVASTATING AVALANCHES affected both Austrian and Italian World War one soldiers who were stationed at the base of Mount more milada. The Alpine frontline avalanches as they are commonly called resulted in the death of over 10,000 soldiers . The direct cause of these avalanches is unknown some people believe that the avalanches were intentionally triggered by enemy forces since the avalanches took place during WORLD WAR ONE . However the winter of 1916 saw above average snowfalls in the region and the avalanches could have originated from natural causes in any case. 

On April 6th 1986 the deadliest HAIL STORM on record hit GopalGanj Bangladesh . The hailstones produced by the storm were so big that they actually   destroyed  hundreds of fishing boats . 50 boatman went missing during the storm and another 100 boatman were severely injured. The storm also cut  telecommunication in remote areas and caused extensive damage to agriculture and crops. In fact so much damage was caused by the storm that relief efforts were called in to help those affected and along with hundreds of injured people. 92 people lost their lives during the storm making the BANGLADESH HAILSTORM the most destructive hail storm on record in regards to human fatality.

This tornado struck NATCHEZ , Mississippi , on May 7, 1840, and holds the record as the only massive tornado in the U.S. to have killed more people than it injured. The death toll was at least 317 , with the majority of casualties on flatboats sunk along the Mississippi River. The loss of life was likely greater because the deaths of enslaved people  would not have been counted in this era. "There is no telling how widespread has been the ruin," wrote the Free Trader across the river in Louisiana. "Reports have come in from plantations 20 miles distant in Louisiana, and the rage of the tempest was terrible. Hundreds of (slaves) killed, dwellings swept like chaff from their foundations, the forest uprooted , and the crops beaten down and destroyed."

VARGAS , in northern Venezuela, lies on the Caribbean Sea . Separated from the capital, Caracas, by the Avila Mountains, it was once densely populated. The mountains form a National Park, within which 23 rivers run down to the coast. Easy to reach from the city, Vargas had many residential communities and a thriving tourist economy. The disaster that struck in December 1999 was of a magnitude never before experienced. Rain fell continuously for 37 days and the ground was at saturation point. Torrential storms that started on December 14 disgorged 9 m (36 ft) of water. Unable to absorb anything more, the soil finally gave way, bringing water, rocks, trees and mud crashing down the mountains to the sea. The MUDSLIDES  completely devastated 100 km (60 mi) of coastline , consuming absolutely everything in their path. Villages, shanty towns and mountainside shacks were buried beneath the mud or swept out to sea, and up to 30,000 people were killed.

Early in the morning of January 23rd , 1556, Ming Dynasty China was rocked by a massive earthquake that was epicentered in the Wei River Valley’s Huazhou District, in northern CHINA SHAANXI Province. The resultant damage , across a region stretching for hundreds of miles, was extensive, and the loss of life horrific . Because it occurred during the reign of the Jiaging Emperor , the earthquake is often referred to in traditional Chinese history as the Jiajing Earthquake.  Over half the population of Huazhou was killed, as every single home and building was destroyed in an upheaval that probably registered 8 on the Richter scale.

HURRICANE KATRINA was a Category 5 major hurricane with winds exceeding 157 mph that caused  $300 billion of catastrophic damage, widespread flooding and the deaths of at least nearly 2000 people.   Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 23, 2005 – August 31, 2005 and swept across 7 states leaving one million Americans homeless. The worst hit area was New Orleans , Louisiana because it is below sea level and protected by levees that were unable to cope with the strength of Hurricane Katrina . $50 billion was given in aid by the government but there was considerable criticism regarding the handling of the disaster.  Although many people were evacuated , it was a slow process and the poorest and most vulnerable people were left behind. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the UNITED STATES .

The first eruption of SANTA MARIA VOLCANOE in recorded history occurred on October 24, 1902. Before 1902 it had been dormant for at least five hundred years .  The eruption , with a VEI of 6, equivalent in magnitude to both Krakatau in Indonesia in 1883 and Katmai in Alaska in 1912, was the second biggest of the twentieth century.   The ash that subsequently fell devastated most of the 120,000 square miles of surrounding territory. Volcanic ash was detected as far away as San Francisco—a distance of 2,500 miles.  The  CRATER on the southwest flank was half a mile in width and a thousand feet deep .  At least 5,000 people were killed by the eruption. Many more died from a subsequent outbreak of malaria.