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

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 4.14 - 4.21 meters above the usual level (ordinary).

Commemorative plaque on the Raskolnikov House:

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, 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.

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, heavy 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.

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). Considered the largest natural disaster in recorded human history.

Flood victims, August 1931:

3. Flooding on the Yellow River, 1887 and 1938

About 900,000 and 500,000 died, respectively. In 1887, heavy rains fell for many days in Henan province, and on September 28, rising water in the Yellow River broke through dams. Soon, the water reached the city of Zhengzhou, located in this province, and then spread throughout the northern part of China, covering approximately 130,000 square kilometers. Because of the flood, about two million people in China were left 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.

Yellow Yellow River:

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 Burchardy's Flood, 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. This night in several places along the coast North Sea dams broke, water flooded the coastal towns 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):

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.

Danube river in Regensburg, Germany:

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 1348-1350, taking the lives of at least a third of the population of Central Europe.

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 has suffered from floods and floods of various sizes, which deprived a person not only of housing and a roof over his head, but also of life. Very often people are not ready for such trials and the elements bring a large number of victims, but those who managed to cope with the cataclysm and survive such a terrible disaster once again confirm how brave and strong a person can be morally and physically. About how much trouble water can bring you start to think involuntarily in the season of heavy rains. A person cannot predict when the next flood will occur and what damage it will bring, but he can remember the horrifying pages of history that “drowned” in the water.

1. There were such natural disasters and in Russia, in particular, one of the most famous floods - in St. Petersburg. In total, the cultural capital of the Russian Federation survived dozens of major floods, but the most terrible and 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, the damage amounted to 20 million rubles. It is said that before the flood of the river, a heavy continuous rain began, which led to a sharp rise in water. As a result, countless houses, buildings and other objects were destroyed and flooded. To this day, more than twenty tablets with water level marks in memory of many floods have survived throughout the city, in total there are about 330 of them in St. Petersburg.

2. The largest disaster in Central Europe is the flood of St. Mary Magdalene in 1342. Heavy heavy rains, lasting several days in a row, led to an increase in the water level in several rivers at once: the Rhine, Weser, Main, Moselle, Werre, Elbe and more. Water flooded the neighborhoods 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 flood of Burchardi, claimed more than eight thousand human lives. Here, the cause of the cataclysm was a strong hurricane wind, which led to a storm surge of water and a breakthrough of the dam in several places at once and the coast of the North Sea. The communities of North Frisia and many coastal towns were flooded.

4. One of the most famous and largest rivers in China, the Huang He 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 includes 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 failures after heavy rains, then in the second, the elements were provoked by the nationalist government in order to stop the advance of the Japanese troops. Millions of people were forced to leave their homes to escape, 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 burst 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 the territory 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 in order to avoid flooding New Orleans, which led to further flooding of 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 in the territory of modern Holland is the 1953 Zeeland disaster. Its cause was the coincidence of the spring tide and a strong storm. And although the locals were calm, because for many years they paid enough attention to protection from natural disasters and were sure that the constructed structures would protect them from any storm, they could not avoid the sad consequences. At a speed of 150 kilometers an hour, billions of cubic meters of water were advancing on land, in the blink of an eye the raging sea reached the roofs of the tallest city buildings, erasing more than 130 settlements. The damage was estimated at millions of guilders, only 7 thousand people managed to be evacuated, about two thousand local residents died as a result of flooding, 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. An underwater earthquake powerful tsunami, the number of victims is estimated at 230 thousand people.

Oksana Lugovaya

Among the catastrophes described below, there is one that also affected Ukraine. Read on for details.

No. 10. Flooding on the rivers Po and Arno (Italy, 1966)

This year, heavy rains dragged on for a whole week. The result: a sharp rise in the water level in the rivers, which the protective dams could not withstand. So Florence and Pisa were flooded. For the first, this natural disaster turned out to be the strongest in the last 500 years. It destroyed:

• more than 5 thousand residential buildings;
• about 6 thousand enterprises;
• caused incredible damage to Florence as one of the cultural centers peace. Including museum exhibits (collections of books, paintings, manuscripts) that were there.

Source: jeffhead.com

No. 9. Flooding on the Dnieper (Ukraine, 1931)

Once nature made fun of our homeland: it gave Ukraine a rainy autumn of 1930, and a record amount of snow in the winter of 1930-31. This led to the fact that in the spring of 1931 there was more water in the Dnieper than usual. Result: the river flooded the territory with a length of 12 km from Mogilev to Zaporozhye, and with it:

• many residential buildings;
• 2 power plants;
• several plants and factories (including food factories, which caused additional terms for hunger).

Source: dnepr.com

No. 8. Flooding in the countries of the North Sea (Denmark, Great Britain, Norway, Belgium, Germany, 1953)

In the winter of 1953, a high tide arose in the North Sea caused by a storm. It turned out to be almost 6 meters higher than expected values. Result: The coasts of Denmark, Great Britain, Norway, Belgium and Germany were flooded. The total death toll is about 2500 people.

But the European countries distributed among themselves compensation for damages caused by the elements. Thus, the economic damage did not have too catastrophic consequences. Although the Netherlands, as a country that suffered the brunt of the tide, still had a hard time.

Source: exdat.com

No. 7. Flood on the Pacific coast (Thailand, 1983)

And Thailand in 1983 was tortured by monsoon rains. They poured continuously for almost 3 months, which practically paralyzed the country. Result: damage estimated at $500 million. And a considerable number of dead - 10 thousand people. Plus another 100,000 sick people have contracted water-borne infections.

Source: chime.in

No. 6. Flooding on the Pacific coast (Japan, 2011)

IN pacific ocean an earthquake occurred, which gave rise to a tsunami up to 40.5 meters high in some places. And this element hit the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Miyagi Prefecture got the most:

• local communications were cut off;
• the airport is flooded;
• water washed away and overturned cars and planes, destroyed buildings.

The total death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is 23,000.

Source: www.moimir.org

No. 5. Surge on the Pacific coast (Bangladesh, 1991)

Today Marian - just beautiful name. And in 1991, it was a terrible cyclone for Bangladesh, which raised a wave 7-9 meters high. The elements hit the southeastern coast of the country, took the lives of about 140 thousand people, and wiped out almost a million buildings. Huge damage was done to agriculture:

• crops were destroyed on a gigantic territory;
• livestock died;
• flooding of the salty area sea ​​water made the land unsuitable for Agriculture for a long time.

Source: dantri.com.vn

No. 4. Flooding on the coast of the Indian Ocean (Indonesia, India, Thailand, 2004)

2004 is the year when an incredibly powerful underwater earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean. The result was a tsunami that hit the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India and even Thailand. The number of dead and missing as a result of the cataclysm exceeded 230 thousand people. But the giant wave did not stop there, and after 7 hours it reached Somalia, having overcome almost the entire ocean. There she took the lives of 250 people.

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 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.

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 much fewer people died - 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 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.

Writers and movie directors scare us with threats from outer space - asteroids, alien attacks. However, all this seems unreal and far away. What can not be said about such a natural disaster as 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.

1983 Thailand

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.