floods in the world. The most famous floods in the world. The most terrible floods of the twentieth century

Details in the story: "Flood in the Czech Republic" >>

1. Flood hitting countries North Sea in February 1953, led to the flooding of the coast of Denmark, Norway, Germany, Belgium and Great Britain. The main blow was dealt by the elements to the Netherlands: due to heavy wind and storm waves, the dams holding back the pressure could not withstand sea waters- gushing water instantly demolished more than 130 settlements. During the rampage of the water element, Dutch rescuers evacuated about 72,000 people, 3,000 houses were completely destroyed. 2400 people are considered to be victims of the flood.

2. In 1959, a major flood occurred in France. After prolonged rains, the Malpasse dam could not stand it, a stream of destructive water rushed down the Reyran River, “covering” the city of Frejus and nearby settlements. As a result, the "big water" claimed the lives of more than 400 people, and the flood itself became a real national tragedy for France.

3. One of the largest floods in Germany happened in February 1962. Then the storm waves of the North Sea flooded most of coastline country. In the first hours of the flood, the water level in the Elbe River rose sharply, which flooded the German city of Hamburg standing in the river delta. Significant damage was also done to the city of Bremen, and the island of Krautzand was isolated from outside world. In total, about 300 people died, more than 500 thousand people were left homeless.

4. In 1966, the waters of the Italian rivers Po, Arno and Adige after heavy rains rose significantly and hit the settlements of central Italy, demolishing fortified dams. As a result, more than 100 people died, damage agriculture countries was estimated at several million lire (Italian currency before the introduction of a single European currency). Water caused especially large damage to the city of Florence and its inhabitants. In particular, the National central Library Florence (one of the largest libraries in Italy) - more than 3 million copies of rare books and 14 thousand other works of art were damaged.

5. In the fall of 2000, a cyclone came to Europe, which provoked prolonged heavy rains. As a result, severe floods began in Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, France, Norway, eastern Spain and northern Italy. In some Italian provinces, a state of emergency was introduced, about 43 thousand people were evacuated. Major Italian cities such as Turin and Milan were flooded. 30 people drowned, the total damage to Italy amounted to 800 million dollars. In the mountainous regions of Switzerland, the rains caused major landslides and landslides. In total, the material damage from the natural disaster in France, Switzerland and Spain amounted to more than $10 million.

Late summer 2013 on the Far East a powerful flood hit, which led to the largest flood in the last 115 years. Flooding swept five regions of the Far East federal district, the total area of flooded territories amounted to more than 8 million square kilometers. In total, since the beginning of the flood, 37 municipal districts have been flooded, 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 elements, 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 died, two more were missing. Most of the dead - in Krymsk, which fell on the heaviest blow of the elements. In this city, 153 people died, more than 60 thousand people were recognized as victims. 1.69 thousand houses are recognized as completely destroyed in the Crimean region. About 6.1 thousand houses were damaged. The damage from the flood amounted to about 20 billion rubles.

April 2004 in Kemerovo region there was a flood 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, 80 kilometers of regional and 20 kilometers of municipal roads were damaged. The element also disrupted telephone communications.
The damage, according to experts, amounted to 700-750 million rubles.

In August 2002 in the Krasnodar Territory, a fleeting tornado and heavy rains passed. In Novorossiysk, Anapa, Krymsk and 15 other settlements in the region, more than 7 thousand residential buildings and office buildings fell into the flood zone. The elements also damaged 83 housing and communal services, 20 bridges, 87.5 kilometers highways, 45 water intakes and 19 transformer substations. 424 residential buildings were completely destroyed. 59 people died. The Ministry of Emergency Situations evacuated 2.37 thousand people from dangerous areas.

In June 2002 Catastrophic flooding as a result of past heavy rains affected 9 subjects of the Southern Federal District. 377 settlements were in the flood zone. The elements destroyed 13.34 thousand houses, damaged almost 40 thousand residential buildings and 445 educational institutions. The elements claimed the lives of 114 people, another 335 thousand people were injured. Specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, other ministries and departments saved a total of 62 thousand people, more than 106 thousand residents of the Southern Federal District were evacuated from dangerous areas. 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 (a total of 63 settlements). Sayansk was especially affected. According to official figures, eight people died, 300 thousand people were injured, 4.64 thousand houses were flooded.

May 2001 The water level in the Lena River exceeded the maximum flood and reached a mark of 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 were affected in Yakutia as a result of the flood, 5.2 thousand residential buildings were flooded. The total amount of damage amounted to 7.08 billion rubles, including 6.2 billion rubles in the city of Lensk.

16 and 17 May 1998 in the area of the city of Lensk, Yakutia, severe flood. It was caused by an ice jam along the lower reaches of the Lena River, as a result of which the water level rose to 17 meters, while the critical level of flooding in the city of Lensk was 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. The damage from the flood amounted to 872.5 million rubles.

The summer of 2017 was unusually rainy. Fortunately, this year's heavy rainfall is nowhere near the devastating floods that hit Germany and China centuries ago.

1. Petersburg flood, 1824, 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 by 4.14 - 4.21 meters above the usual level (ordinary).

Petersburg flood of 1824. The author of the picture: Fedor Yakovlevich Alekseev (1753-1824).

Before the flood began, it was raining in the city and a damp and cold wind was blowing. And in the evening there was a sharp rise in the water level in the channels, after which almost the entire city was flooded. The flood did not affect only the Foundry, Rozhdestvenskaya and Karetnaya parts of St. Petersburg. As a result, the 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. Commemorative plaques have been erected in memory of many floods in the city (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 Vasilyevsky Island.

Commemorative plaque on the Raskolnikov House. 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 the 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 a severe drought. But at the end of the winter of 1930, severe snowstorms began, and in the spring - incessant heavy rains and thaw, due to which the water level in the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers rose significantly. For example, in the Yangtze River in July alone, the water rose by 70 cm.

As a result, the river overflowed its banks and soon reached the city of Nanjing, which at that time was the capital of China. Many people drowned and died from water-borne infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Cases of cannibalism and infanticide among desperate residents are known.

Flood victims, August 1931.

According to Chinese sources, about 145,000 people died as a result of the flood, at the same time, Western sources claim that the death toll was from 3.7 million to 4 million. By the way, this was not the only flood in China caused by the overflowing waters of the Yangtze River. 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).

3. Flooding on the Yellow River, 1887 and 1938, about 900 thousand and 500 thousand dead, respectively. In 1887, heavy rains fell for many days in Henan province, and on September 28, rising water in the Yellow River broke through the dams. Soon the water reached the city of Zhengzhou located in this province, and then spread throughout the northern part of China, which occupies approximately 130,000 km². The floods left about two million people in China homeless and about 900,000 people died. And in 1938, a flood on the same river was provoked by the Nationalist government in Central China at the start of the Sino-Japanese War. This was done in order to stop the Japanese troops advancing rapidly into the central part of China. The flood has subsequently been 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 the Japanese army succeeded in doing 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 a flood on the Yellow River in 1938. The floods destroyed thousands of square kilometers of agricultural land and many villages. Several million people became refugees. According to China's initial figures, about 800,000 people drowned. However, nowadays researchers studying the archives of the disaster claim that many less people- about 400 - 500 thousand.

Refugees who appeared after the 1983 flood.

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

4. The flood of St. Felix, 1530, at least 100 thousand dead. On Saturday, November 5, 1530, on the day of St. Felix de Valois, most of Flanders, the historical region of the Netherlands, and the province of Zeeland were washed away. Researchers believe that more than 100 thousand people died. Subsequently, the day when the disaster occurred was called Evil Saturday.

5. The flood of Burchardi, 1634, about 8-15 thousand dead. On the night of October 11/12, 1634, Germany and Denmark were flooded as a result of a storm surge caused by hurricane winds. That night, dykes broke in several places along the coast of the North Sea, flooding the coastal cities and communities of North Frisia.

Painting depicting the Burchardi flood.

According to various estimates, from 8 to 15 thousand people died during the flood.

Maps of North Frisia in 1651 (left) and 1240 (right). Author of both maps: Johannes Mejer.

6. The flood of St. Mary Magdalene, 1342, several thousand. In July 1342, on the feast day of the myrrh-bearing Mary Magdalene (the Catholic and Lutheran churches celebrate it on July 22), the largest recorded flood in Central Europe occurred. On this day, the waters of the rivers Rhine, Mosel, 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 severely damaged.

According to the researchers of this disaster, after a long hot and dry period, heavy rains followed 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 territories. Many buildings were destroyed and thousands of people died. And although total number the dead are unknown, it is believed that about 6 thousand people drowned in the Danube region alone. In addition, the next summer was wet and cold, so the population was left without a harvest and suffered greatly from hunger. And to everything else, the plague pandemic that took place in the middle of the XIV century in Asia, Europe, North Africa and the island of Greenland (the Black Death), reached its peak in the years 1348-1350, taking the lives of at least a third of the population of Central Europe.

Illustration of the Black Death, 1411.

Writers and movie directors scare us with threats from outer space - asteroids, alien attacks. However, all this seems unreal and far away. What can you say about this natural disaster like a flood. Especially during the rainy season, you start to think about how much trouble water can bring. We cannot predict what the coming floods will bring - providence, alas, does not report to us. But we can tell about the pages of history that "sank" in the raging waters.

1287, the Netherlands

The coast of the North Sea, which belonged to Holland, was flooded on Saint Lucy's Day. Hundreds of settlements were under water, 50 thousand people suffered. Lake Zuiderzee became a bay and only in 1932, thanks to the construction of a dam, did it return to its original appearance.

The flooding of the Yellow River brought enormous destruction to the northern provinces of China. The water destroyed 2,000 settlements. It is difficult to name the exact number of deaths, according to various sources, this number is 1.2-7 million people.

This year, Johnstown, located in the state of Pennsylvania in the valley of the Conemah River, suffered from flooding. Heavy spring showers caused the South Fork Dam to burst. The flow of water at a speed of more than 60 km / h destroyed over 10 thousand buildings, claimed more than 2 thousand human lives.

Another powerful flood occurred in America in 1927, this element affected 10 states. The Mississippi River and its tributaries overflowed their banks. In some places, the level of flooding reached 10 meters. To save New Orleans, a dam near the city had to be blown up; on the one hand, this saved the city a little, but other territories suffered because of this. About 500 thousand people died. The flood is still called "great".

The scale of this flood is considered colossal even today - the water "captured" an area of 300 thousand km2. About 140 thousand inhabitants of the republic died, 4 million houses disappeared from the face of the earth.

Heavy rains that year continued non-stop for a week, protective dams were destroyed, as a result of which Pisa and Florence were flooded. 11,000 buildings were damaged, including both residential buildings and businesses. The water destroyed valuable objects of culture and history that were stored in Florence: paintings, books.

The monsoon rains caused the Kosi River to flood, the dam was destroyed, the river changed its course, and territories that had never experienced such cataclysms suffered. The inhabitants of the state of Bexar (about a million people) were cut off from the rest of the country. roads washed out. In total, about 1.5 million people were affected, half a million died.

Monsoon rains continued for three months, which paralyzed the life of the whole country. The damage from the floods was estimated at $ 500 million. 10 thousand people died from the destructive power of the water, but another 100 thousand people fell ill due to infections, the spread of which the flood contributed to.

Underwater earthquake in Indian Ocean spawned powerful tsunami. The coasts of Indonesia, South India, Sri Lanka and Thailand were affected. The death toll is 230 thousand people.

All catastrophes on Earth are directly related to environmental degradation, and in order to prevent this, it is necessary to go to special collection points, which are then recycled.

The summer of 2017 was unusually rainy. Fortunately, this year's heavy rainfall is nowhere near the devastating floods that hit Germany and China centuries ago.

Flood victims, August 1931.

According to Chinese sources, about 145,000 people died as a result of the flood, at the same time, Western sources claim that the death toll was from 3.7 million to 4 million. By the way, this was not the only flood in China caused by the overflowing waters of the Yangtze River. 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).

3. Flooding on the Yellow River, 1887 and 1938, about 900 thousand and 500 thousand dead, respectively. In 1887, heavy rains fell for many days in Henan province, and on September 28, rising water in the Yellow River broke through the dams. Soon the water reached the city of Zhengzhou located in this province, and then spread throughout the northern part of China, which occupies approximately 130,000 km². The floods left about two million people in China homeless and about 900,000 people died. And in 1938, a flood on the same river was provoked by the Nationalist government in Central China at the start of the Sino-Japanese War. This was done in order to stop the Japanese troops advancing rapidly into the central part of China. The flood has subsequently been 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-Xian railways. If the Japanese army succeeded in doing 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.

Painting depicting the Burchardi flood.

According to various estimates, from 8 to 15 thousand people died during the flood.

According to the researchers of this disaster, after a long hot and dry period, heavy rains followed 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 territories. Many buildings were destroyed and thousands of people died. And 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 next summer was wet and cold, so the population was left without a harvest and suffered greatly from hunger. And to everything else, the plague pandemic that took place in the middle of the XIV century in Asia, Europe, North Africa and the island of Greenland (Black Death), reached its peak in 1348-1350, taking the lives of at least a third of the population of Central Europe.

Illustration of the Black Death, 1411.