Destructive floods in human history. The worst floods in the world. Latest flood in Russia

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.

The elements have declared their power since the beginning of time. Raging, terrible and uncontrollable forces destroyed not only the creations of human hands, but also the people themselves.

And the element of water is one example of such power. For many centuries, humanity suffered from sweats and floods, which often claimed not only shelter, but also lives. And the courage that a person who has suffered such a terrible disaster is capable of once again proves how strong we can be, both morally and physically.

And examples that prove this are the ten most famous floods in the world. Happy reading!

In the first half of the last century, one of the most destructive floods in the world occurred in the Celestial Empire. It was put in second place after the Great Flood, and according to historical documents, it is the largest natural disaster on the planet. After a drought that lasted two years and a snowy winter, the spring months were very rainy and the great Chinese rivers (Yangtze, Huaihe, Yellow River) began to fill. In July–August, the amount of water in China's largest rivers reached its peak and the water overflowed its banks. By August 19, 1931, the water exceeded the normal level by 16 meters, and already on the evening of August 25, the dams, which had resisted the water elements for several weeks, could not stand it and collapsed in different places at once. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of land were immediately flooded and millions of people were left without homes; approximately 200,000 residents died in one night. The crop suffered serious damage, as the water stayed for up to six months in some places. Considering the typhus and cholera epidemics that followed this tragedy, about four million people died from this flood. China very often suffered from terrible water disasters - in 1911, 1935, 1954, 1998. and all these floods took with them a huge number of victims.

It happened in November 1824. One of the most terrible in the entire history of St. Petersburg. The day before, an icy, piercing wind blew from the bay, and later it began to rain, although such weather cannot scare St. Petersburg residents. By evening, the water level in the canals rose sharply, and then the entire city was flooded. The water in the Neva was above four meters. The result of this natural disaster was the death of about six hundred people, many people went missing - their bodies were carried away by water into the Gulf of Finland, 462 houses were destroyed, about four thousand buildings were damaged. The total damage caused was colossal at that time - about twenty million dollars. There were a lot of such floods in St. Petersburg, more than three hundred. There are inscriptions on the knowledge that indicate the water level in 1824.

“Yellow River”, and this is the name the British gave to this large Chinese river. In 1887, there were prolonged heavy rains in Henan province; at the end of September, due to the huge amount of water, the river broke through the dams. Very quickly the water reached Zhengzhou and spread throughout northern China. An area of ​​130 thousand sq. km was covered with water. Due to the natural disaster, a lot of people died - more than a million, and about 2 million were left homeless, and approximately 500 thousand more died from the cholera epidemic. About six hundred cities that were built on the banks of this river were damaged. “The Sorrow of China” is how Europeans dubbed this river, because it killed many more people than any other river on the planet.

This day was called “Evil Saturday”. It was on a Saturday in November - the feast of St. Felix - that this tragedy happened. Water flooded a huge part of the area of ​​Flanders and Zealand. According to researchers, more than one hundred thousand people became victims of the disaster.

This is considered the most destructive flood in the United States. Ten states were affected by this natural disaster: Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and others. Due to the rainfall that occurred in the summer of 1926, the tributaries of the rivers were overflowing. In January, the level of one of the rivers was equal to the top of the dam (17 meters). In April 1927, precipitation fell 15 cm more than normal. Flows of water demolished the dam, and seventy thousand square meters were flooded. The depth of the flooding in some places was about ten meters. Only towards the end of summer the water began to recede. This natural disaster received its own name - “Great (Great) Flood.” Many people died, and even more were left homeless.

Due to a sharp storm surge of water, which was formed from a hurricane wind, this disaster occurred in Germany and Denmark on October 12, 1634. On the night of October 11–12, several structures on the North Sea coast failed, and water filled the cities of North Friesland located on the shores. The disaster took away approximately fifteen thousand inhabitants.

At least fifty thousand people were affected by a major flood that occurred on December 14, 1287. After this cataclysm, enormous destruction was left - many settlements disappeared. After all, more than thirty villages disappeared under water in East Frisia alone. A terrible event occurred on the day of St. Lucia, and this is how the flood was called. And this event also created the North Sea bay from Lake Zuiderzee.

This water disaster is considered the worst in terms of the number of victims to hit America in the nineteenth century. The city of Johnstown is located among high hills and mountains. The rivers regularly caused inconvenience to the city, but a disaster of such magnitude struck for the first time on May 31, 1889. It rained non-stop for three days. The water in the Little Confman River rose very quickly and there was a threat of flooding in the lower areas of the city. There was an old, almost forgotten dam upstream, but it couldn’t stand it - a huge gap formed... And in a few moments, all the water from the reservoir poured down, forming a huge wave. This terrible water force washed away an entire city from the face of the Earth in almost a few moments. More than two thousand people died in this terrible disaster.

One of the worst floods in modern Dutch history. The cause of this disaster was the coincidence of a storm and a spring tide. And although the inhabitants of the Netherlands for many years protected their country from the terrible effects of floods, they were calm because they were confident that the structures they had built would reliably protect them from any storm. But at the end of January, wind speeds exceeded 150 km/h, and at such a breakneck speed billions of cubic meters of water were rushing onto land. The raging water destroyed 133 settlements along its path. In the blink of an eye, the water rose to the roofs of the tallest city buildings. The damage caused by the disaster was estimated at millions of guilders. More than 170 thousand hectares of land were flooded with water. Over 70,000 people were able to evacuate, many went missing and about two thousand died.

1913, several severe floods occurred in the western part of the United States, which Americans still remember today.

The most powerful of them was caused by the enormous amount of rainfall that fell in Ohio and Kentucky. The norm was exceeded three times! Also, a significant reason was the rains, which had been continuing for several weeks by that time.

The previously prosperous city of Dayton suffered more than others from the raging disaster. Its dams were unable to prevent the flow of water, and the city was flooded to a height of six meters. Because of them, gas lines were also disabled, which caused numerous fires. In Dayton, real anarchy reigned for some time.

Official data tells us about 430 dead, however, the real number is closer to a thousand. More than three hundred thousand people lost a roof over their heads.

In total, about thirty thousand buildings and several hundred bridges were destroyed. And the material damage at that time was absolutely incredible - almost one hundred million dollars.

Floods are considered one of the worst natural disasters. Their consequences are significant destruction and loss of life. The most catastrophic of the largest floods in the world is considered to be the flood that occurred in China during the flood of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in August 1931. These rivers are famous for frequent floods, which lead to tragedies.

The Yangtze is the longest river after the Nile and the Amazon (6380 km). In the lowest part of the river, the channel is higher than the surrounding area, which often leads to flooding when it overflows. The Yellow River, or Yellow River, is another, no less “capricious” river in China. This river overflows its banks so often that it is nicknamed “The Sorrow of China.”

In summer, southeast winds from the Pacific Ocean bring humid air that accumulates over China. This leads to heavy summer rains.
In 1931, the monsoon season was too stormy. River basins were attacked by heavy rains. As a result, the dams could not withstand the load and collapsed in many places.

In total, about 40 million people were affected by the flood, 333 thousand hectares of land were under water, and enormous damage was caused to crops. Lack of food, disease, and lack of housing led to the death of 3.7 million people. In some places the water did not recede for up to 6 months.

The city of Gaoyou suffered a huge catastrophic impact from the flood. On August 26, 1931, a powerful typhoon hit the lake located in its vicinity. The water level was too high after previous rainstorms. The dams could not cope with the load and collapsed in six places. Huge streams of water swept through the city and villages, killing 10 thousand people. In honor of those killed in December 2003, a memorial museum was opened in Gaoyu.

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 a 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. In total, the cultural capital of 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 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 of our days is considered to be the tsunami in the 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 typhus. 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 that, 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.

Illustration of the Black Death, 1411.