Deadliest Incidents In History

Bhola Cyclone — Bangladesh

The deadliest tropical cyclone in recorded history drove a storm surge across the densely populated islands of the Ganges Delta.

Coringa Cyclone — India

A massive storm surge destroyed the busy port city of Coringa on India's Andhra coast; it was never fully rebuilt.

Bangladesh Cyclone (BOB 01) — Bangladesh

A category-5-equivalent cyclone struck the Chittagong coast with a six-metre surge, killing around 138,000 people.

Cyclone Nargis — Myanmar

Nargis drove a devastating surge across Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta in the country's worst recorded natural disaster.

Galveston Hurricane — United States

The deadliest natural disaster in United States history destroyed a thriving island city in one night.

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) — Philippines

One of the strongest storms ever to make landfall destroyed Tacloban with a surge that behaved like a tsunami.

Hurricane Katrina — United States

Levee failures after Katrina's landfall flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and exposed deep failures in US disaster response.

1970 Bhola cyclone

The 1970 Bhola cyclone, also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970 or simply the Bhola Cyclone, was the deadliest tropical cyclone on record, as well as one of the deadliest humanitarian disasters ever recorded. It struck East Pakistan (presen

1839 Coringa cyclone

On 25 November 1839, the port city of Coringa in present-day Andhra Pradesh on the southeastern coast of British India was battered by a tropical cyclone that destroyed the harbour. Known as the 1839 Coringa cyclone and sometimes also refer

1856 Edo typhoon

1922 Swatow typhoon — China

The 1922 Shantou Typhoon was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused thousands of deaths in the Chinese city of Shantou in August 1922. This death toll makes it one of the deadliest known typhoons in history.

Great Hurricane of 1780

The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through the islands from October 10 to October 16. Specifics on

Hurricane Mitch — Honduras

Hurricane Mitch was an extremely powerful, deadly and catastrophic tropical cyclone in 1998 that caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America, becoming the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. It was the deadliest hurricane in Cent

Hong Kong Typhoon of 1874

The 1874 Hong Kong typhoon was the third-worst typhoon to ever hit Hong Kong, striking during the night of September 22, 1874 and the morning of September 23, 1874.

Hong Kong Typhoon of 1906 — China

The 1906 Hong Kong typhoon was a tropical cyclone that hit Hong Kong on 18 September 1906. The typhoon caused property damage exceeding a million pounds sterling, affected international trade, and took the lives of around 15,000 people.

Great Hong Kong Typhoon of 1937 — China

The 1937 Great Hong Kong Typhoon was one of the deadliest typhoons in Hong Kong history, with a death toll estimated between 11,000 and 13,000. Part of the 1937 Pacific typhoon season, the tropical cyclone originated on 24 August to the sou

1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone — India

The 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that hit Andhra Pradesh in November 1977, killing at least 10,000 people. The worst affected areas were in the Krishna River delta region. The island of Diviseema, which was

1776 Pointe-à-Pitre hurricane

The List of Atlantic hurricanes in the 18th century encompasses all known Atlantic tropical cyclones from 1700 to 1799. Although not all of the data for every storm that occurred are available, some parts of the coastline were populated eno

Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is

1928 Okeechobee hurricane

The Okeechobee hurricane of 1928, also known as the San Felipe Segundo hurricane and Florida's Forgotten Storm, was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the recorded history of the North Atlantic basin, and the fourth deadliest hurricane in t

1931 Belize hurricane — Belize

The 1931 British Honduras hurricane was the deadliest hurricane in the history of British Honduras (known as Belize since 1973), killing an estimated 2,500 people. The hurricane was first detected as a tropical wave off the west coast of Af

1831 Barbados hurricane — Barbados

The Great Barbados hurricane was an intense Category 4 hurricane that left cataclysmic damage across the Caribbean and Louisiana in 1831.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that affected the Southeastern United States in late August 2005, particularly in and around the city of New Orleans. Katrina became the United States' costliest

Hurricane Stan

Hurricane Stan was the deadliest tropical cyclone of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. A relatively weak system that affected areas of Central America and Mexico in early October 2005, Stan was the eighteenth named storm and eleventh hurr

1973 Flores cyclone — Australia

The 1973 Flores cyclone was the deadliest known tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere. The cyclone formed in the Banda Sea on 26 April as a tropical low. It intensified as it moved in a west-southwest direction, before shifting to the

1917 Taishō typhoon — Japan

Hurricane Gordon

Hurricane Gordon was an erratic, long-lived, and catastrophic late-season hurricane in 1994. The twelfth and final tropical cyclone of the 1994 Atlantic hurricane season, Gordon formed as a tropical depression in the southwestern Caribbean

Typhoon Agnes

Typhoon Agnes, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Undang, was the fourth and final tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines during the 1984 Pacific typhoon season. An area of disturbed weather developed near the equator and the Caroline

1908 Hong Kong Typhoon — China

The 1908 Hong Kong Typhoon was a tropical cyclone which made landfall near Hong Kong on the night of 27 July 1908. The ‌‌storm resulted in significant property damage and loss of life. The most notable occurrence of the event was the loss

Typhoon Amy

Typhoon Amy was an intense and deadly tropical cyclone that struck areas of the central Philippines in December 1951. Impacting the archipelago during the 1951 eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok, Amy exacerbated the effects of the volcano, great

1990 Andhra Pradesh cyclone — India

The 1990 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was the worst disaster to affect Southern India since the 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone. The system was first noted as a depression on 4 May 1990, while it was located over the Bay of Bengal about 600 km (375 m

Typhoon Angela

Typhoon Angela, named Rosing by PAGASA, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that impacted the Philippines in November 1995, and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 1995. Typhoon Angela was the twenty-ninth

Hurricane Georges

Hurricane Georges () was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone which caused severe destruction as it traversed the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in September 1998, making seven landfalls along its path. Georges was the seventh tropical

Typhoon Yagi — Philippines

Typhoon Yagi was a powerful tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage in Southeast Asia and South China in early September 2024. Known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Enteng and in Vietnam as Typhoon No. 3 of 2024 (Vietnames

Hurricane Matthew — Bahamas

Hurricane Matthew was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation across Cuba, the Bahamas, and the southeastern United States. The deadl

Typhoon Irma

Typhoon Irma, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Anding, was a powerful typhoon that struck the Philippines in November 1981. The twenty-fifth named storm and fourteenth typhoon of the 1981 Pacific typhoon season, Irma originated fro

Cyclone Idai — Mozambique

Intense Tropical Cyclone Idai () was one of the costliest and deadliest tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage, and a humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, Zimb

Cyclone Mocha — Bangladesh

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Mocha was a powerful and deadly tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean which affected Myanmar and parts of Bangladesh in May 2023. The second depression and the first cyclonic storm of the 2023 North Indi