Scientific and technical progress makes life easier for a person, but also leads to man-made accidents. So it was at all times. We will talk about the five most severe disasters in the history of the USSR.

Kurenevskaya tragedy

The Kurenevskaya tragedy occurred in Kyiv on March 13, 1961. On December 2, 1952, it was decided to create a landfill from construction waste in a sad famous place Babi Yar. This place was blocked by a dam, which protected the Kurenevsky district from the merged waste from the brick factories. On March 13, the dam broke, and a mud wave 14 meters high rushed down Teligi Street. The flow possessed great strength and washed away everything in its path: cars, trams, buildings.

Although the flood lasted only an hour and a half, during this time a wave of waste managed to claim the lives of hundreds of people and cause catastrophic damage to the entire city. The exact number of victims could not be established, but this figure is close to 1.5 thousand people. In addition, about 90 buildings were destroyed, about 60 of which were residential.

The news of the disaster reached the population of the country only on March 16, and on the day of the tragedy, the authorities decided not to advertise what had happened. For this, international and long-distance communications were disabled throughout Kiev. Later, the expert commission issued a decision on the causes of this accident, they called "mistakes in the design of hydraulic dumps and the dam."

Radiation accident at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant

Radiation accident at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, which was located in Nizhny Novgorod, occurred on January 18, 1970. The tragedy occurred during the construction of the K-320 nuclear submarine, which was part of the Skat project. When the boat was on the slipway, the reactor suddenly turned on, which worked for 15 seconds at its maximum speed. As a result, radiation contamination of the entire machine assembly shop occurred.
At the time of operation of the reactor, there were about 1,000 people working at the plant in the room. Unaware of the infection, many went home that day without the necessary medical care and deactivation treatment. Three of the six victims taken to a hospital in Moscow died of radiation sickness. It was decided not to make this incident public, and all those who survived were taken non-disclosure subscriptions for 25 years. And only the next day after the accident, the workers began to process. The liquidation of the consequences of the accident continued until April 24, 1970, more than a thousand workers of the plant were involved in these works.

accident on Chernobyl nuclear power plant

The Chernobyl disaster occurred on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The reactor was completely destroyed in the explosion, and in environment was thrown out great amount radioactive substances. The accident was the largest in the history of nuclear energy. Main damaging factor at the explosion it became radioactive contamination. In addition to the territories located in close proximity to the explosion (30 km), the territory of Europe was affected. This was due to the fact that the cloud formed from the explosion carried radioactive materials many kilometers away from the source. The fallout of iodine and cesium radionuclides was recorded on the territory of modern Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

During the first three months after the accident, 31 people died, while over the next 15 years, another 60 to 80 people died from the consequences of the accident. More than 115 thousand people were evacuated from the 30-kilometer affected area. More than 600,000 servicemen and volunteers took part in the liquidation of the accident. The course of the investigation was constantly changing. The exact cause of the accident has not yet been determined.

Kyshtym accident

The Kyshtym accident was the first man-made disaster in the USSR, it happened on September 29, 1957. It happened at the Mayak plant, which was located in the closed military city of Chelyabinsk-40. The accident was named after the closest city of Kyshtym.

The reason was an explosion that occurred in a special tank for radioactive waste. This container was a smooth cylinder, which was made of stainless steel. The design of the vessel seemed to be reliable, and no one expected that the cooling system would fail.
An explosion occurred, as a result of which about 20 million curies of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere. About 90 percent of the radiation fell on the territory of the Mayak chemical plant itself. Fortunately, Chelyabinsk-40 was not damaged. During the liquidation of the accident, 23 villages were resettled, and the houses themselves and domestic animals were destroyed.

No one died as a result of the explosion. However, the employees who carried out the elimination of the infection received a significant dose of radiation. About a thousand people took part in the operation. Now this zone is called the East Ural radioactive trace and any economic activity prohibited in this area.

Disaster at the Plesetsk cosmodrome

On March 18, 1980, an explosion occurred while preparing for the launch of the Vostok 2-M launch vehicle. The incident took place at the Plesetsk cosmodrome. This accident led to large quantities human casualties: only in close proximity to the rocket at the time of the explosion there were 141 people. 44 people died in the fire, the rest were burned varying degrees severity and were taken to the hospital, subsequently four of them died.

The fact that hydrogen peroxide was used as catalytic materials led to the fact that in the manufacture of filters. Only thanks to the courage of the participants in this accident, many people were able to get out of the fire. The liquidation of the disaster lasted for three days.
In the future, scientists abandoned the use of hydrogen peroxide as a catalyst, which made it possible to avoid such incidents.

The volcano that destroyed ancient Pompeii cannot be responsible for the saddest thing disaster in history, despite the fact that many films have been made on this topic and many songs have been sung. Modern natural disasters take countless human lives. Take a look at our grim list. It contains only the most terrible disasters of all time.

Earthquake in the Syrian city of Aleppo (1138)

Fortunately, these days the news reports do not shock us with giant faults in the area Dead Sea. It's relatively stable right now. tectonic relief. Syria experienced unprecedented cataclysms in the 12th century. seismic activity in the north of the country lasted almost a year and eventually resulted in a devastating cataclysm. In 1138, the city of Aleppo was destroyed to the ground, others suffered settlements and military installations. AT total The disaster claimed the lives of 230,000 people.

Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (2004)

This is the only event on the list that many of us have seen. This tragedy is considered the deadliest in modern history. It all started with a 9.3 magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of Indonesia. Then the elements transformed into a cruel tsunami that rushed to the shores of 11 countries. In total, 225,000 people died, about a million more residents of the coast indian ocean were left homeless. It is sad that this happened during the heyday of the development of earthquake-resistant architectural technologies, and not in the days of thatched dugouts.

Antioch earthquake (526)

People like to compare the potential end of the world to catastrophes of biblical proportions. The earthquake in Antioch is the only natural cataclysm that is more or less close to the biblical era. This natural disaster occurred in the first millennium from the birth of Christ. The Byzantine city in the period from 20 to 29 May 526 experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.0. Because of high density population (which was rare for the region at the time) killed 250,000 people. The fires caused by the cataclysm also contributed to the increase in the number of victims.

Earthquake in the Chinese province of Gansu (1920)

The next natural disaster on our list has created a giant rift over 160 kilometers long. According to experts, the greatest damage was caused not by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, but by landslides that carried entire cities underground and were main reason delaying the delivery of assistance. According to various estimates, the cataclysm claimed the lives of 230,000 to 273,000 inhabitants.

Tangshan earthquake (1976)

One more terrible earthquake The 20th century shows that the natural disaster itself is not so terrible as the imperfections of the infrastructure of the area in which it occurs. Aftershocks of magnitude 7.8 hit the Chinese Tangshan on the night of July 28 and instantly leveled 92 percent of residential buildings in this millionth city. The lack of food, water and other resources became the main obstacles in the rescue efforts. In addition, they were destroyed railways and bridges, so help was nowhere to be expected. Many of the victims died under the rubble.

Cyclone at Koring, India (1839)

By the beginning of the 19th century, Koringa had become the main Indian port city at the mouth of the Godavari River. On the night of November 25, 1839, this title had to be folded. The oncoming cyclone destroyed 20,000 ships and 300,000 people. Many of the victims were thrown into the open sea. Now there is a small village on the site of Koringa.

Cyclone Bhola, Bangladesh (1970)

Natural disasters regularly hit the Bay of Bengal, but none has been more devastating than Cyclone Bhola. Hurricane wind gusts on November 11, 1970 reached 225 kilometers per hour. Due to extreme poverty in the region, no one was able to warn the population of the impending danger. As a result, the cyclone killed more than half a million lives.

Chinese earthquake (1556)

Despite the fact that in the 16th century a system for assessing the magnitude of tremors was not yet introduced, historians have calculated that the earthquake that occurred in China in 1556 could have had a magnitude of 8.0 - 8.5. It so happened that the main blow was taken by a densely populated area. The disaster created deep canyons that permanently swallowed over 800,000 people.

Flood on the Yellow River (1887)

One of largest rivers in the world is responsible for more deaths than all other rivers combined. In 1887, the deadliest flood was recorded, which was exacerbated by heavy rains and the destruction of dams near the city of Changshu. The flooded low-lying plains claimed the lives of about two million Chinese.

Flood on the Yangtze River (1931)

The record-breaking natural disaster came with the onset of heavy rains and flooding on the Yangtze River in April 1931. This natural disaster, coupled with dysentery and other diseases, killed about three million lives. In addition, the destruction of rice fields caused mass starvation.

There have always been catastrophes: environmental, man-made. A lot has happened in the last hundred years.

Biggest water disasters

People have been crossing the seas and oceans for hundreds of years. During this time there were many shipwrecks.

So, for example, in 1915, a German submarine fired a torpedo and blew up a British passenger liner. It happened near the Irish coast. The ship sank within minutes. About 1200 people died.

In 1944, the year the disaster occurred right in the port of Bombay. During the unloading of the ship there was a powerful explosion. On the cargo ship were explosives, gold bars, sulfur, wood and cotton. It was the burning cotton, scattered within a radius of one kilometer, that caused the fire of all ships in the port, warehouses and even many city facilities. The city burned for two weeks. 1300 people died, more than 2000 were injured. The port entered its working mode only 7 months after the disaster.

most famous and major disaster on the water is the wreck of the famous Titanic. He went under water during his first voyage. The giant was unable to change course when an iceberg appeared directly in front of him. The liner sank, and with it one and a half thousand people.

At the end of 1917, the French and Norwegian ships collided - Mont Blanc and Imo. The French ship was fully loaded with explosives. The most powerful explosion along with the port destroyed part of the city of Halifax. The consequences of this explosion human lives: 2,000 dead and 9,000 wounded. This explosion is considered the most powerful until the advent of nuclear weapons.

In 1916, the Germans torpedoed a French ship. 3130 people died. After the attack on the German hospital afloat "General Steuben" 3,600 people died.

At the beginning of 1945, a submarine under the command of Marinesko launched a torpedo into the German liner Wilhelm Gustlov, which was carrying passengers. At least 9,000 people died.

The largest disasters in Russia

Several disasters occurred on the territory of our country, which, in terms of their scale, are considered the largest in the history of the existence of the state. These include an accident railway near Ufa. An accident occurred on the pipeline, which was located next to the railway track. As a result of the fuel mixture accumulated in the air, an explosion occurred at the moment when the passenger trains met. 654 people died and about 1,000 were injured.

On the territory of Russia, the largest ecological catastrophy not only in the country, but all over the world. It's about about the Aral Sea, which has practically dried up. This was facilitated by many factors, including social and soil. Aral Sea gone for some half a century. In the 60s of the last century fresh water tributaries of the Aral Sea were used in many areas in agriculture. By the way, the Aral Sea was considered one of the largest lakes in the world. Now dry land takes its place.

Another indelible mark on the history of the fatherland was left by the flood in 2012 in the city of Krymsk Krasnodar Territory. Then, in two days, as much precipitation fell as falls in 5 months. Because of natural disaster 179 people died, and 34 thousand local residents suffered.

The largest nuclear disaster

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 went down in history not only Soviet Union but all over the world. The power unit of the station exploded. As a result, there was a powerful release of radiation into the atmosphere. To date, within a radius of 30 km from the epicenter of the explosion is considered an exclusion zone. There is still no exact data on the consequences of this terrible catastrophe.

Also nuclear explosion occurred in 2011, when the nuclear reactor at Fukushima-1 failed. It happened due to strong earthquake in Japan. A huge amount of radiation entered the atmosphere.

The biggest disasters in the history of mankind

In 2010, an oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. After a stunning fire, the platform quickly went under water, but the oil poured into the ocean for another 152 days. According to scientists, the area covered with oil slick amounted to 75,000 square kilometers.

The most terrible global catastrophe in terms of the number of deaths was the explosion of a chemical plant. It happened in the Indian city of Bhapol in 1984. 18 thousand people died a large number of people received exposure.

In 1666, a fire broke out in London, which is still considered the most powerful fire in history. The fire wiped out 70,000 houses and claimed the lives of 80,000 residents of the city. It took 4 days to put out the fire.

Majority explanatory dictionaries interprets the basic meaning of the word "catastrophe" as an event with tragic consequences. It is precisely such events that still terrify our contemporaries with their scale and number. dead people and animals, the history of our planet is not so small. The most terrible catastrophes sometimes influenced further development affected countries or even the entire civilization.

With the development of technology, people began to develop such ocean spaces that were unsuitable for their existence, and then turned their dreams and aspirations to the sky. With the advent of huge ocean cruisers, multi-seat passenger airliners, the number of those killed and injured in disasters has significantly increased. In the last century, man-made disasters have been added, which can also be called one of the largest.

The largest air crash in civil aviation

Tenerife is one of the worst air crashes, which resulted in the death of 583 people. It all happened on March 27, 1977, directly on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport, located near the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands). All passengers of the Boeing KLM were killed, including 14 crew members, with the exception of one passenger, Robina Van Lanscot, who decided to interrupt the flight to meet a friend and got off in Tenerife. But on board the Boeing Pan American after the crash were survivors. 61 people managed to escape - 54 passengers and 7 crew members.

Because of the terrorist attack that took place the day before at the largest airport canary islands, Las Palmas, it was closed, and Los Rodeos Airport was heavily overloaded due to these events. It was a day off, a lot of planes, rejected by Las Palmas, filled all the stops. Some of them were on taxiways. Known reasons for terrible disaster:

• fog, visibility was initially limited to 300 meters, and a little later became even less;
• lack of lights on the borders of the runway and taxiway;
• the strong Spanish accent of the dispatcher, which the pilots did not understand well, asked again and clarified his orders;
• the lack of coordinated actions on the part of the pilots when negotiating with the controller, they entered into a conversation and interrupted each other.

KLM subsequently claimed responsibility for the tragedy and paid substantial compensation to the families of the victims and those affected.

On May 5, 1937, the German a cruise ship, named after Wilhelm Gustloff, one of the leaders of the Swiss National Socialists, who died the year before.

The passenger liner had ten decks, was designed for 1.5 thousand people, it was served by 417 crew members. The ship was built according to the most advanced technologies and it was very comfortable. The liner was intended, first of all, for long and leisurely cruises. In 1939, the Wilhelm Gustloff was handed over to the German Navy. Soon he became a floating hospital, and then after 1940 he was assigned to the school of submariners in Gotenhafen. His color again became camouflage, and he lost the protection of the Hague Convention.

After the torpedo attack, which was carried out by the Soviet submarine under the command of A.I. Marinescu, "Wilhelm Gustloff" sank off the coast of Poland on January 30, 1945. According to official figures, 5,348 people died, however, the exact number of passengers remained unknown.

Near the coast of Crimea on November 7, 1941 Nazi aviation The Soviet ship "Armenia" was sunk, on board of which, presumably, there were more than 3,000 people.

From the point of view of ecology, one of the major disasters- decrease in the level of the Aral Sea and its shrinkage. The so-called Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake on the planet after the Caspian Sea (which, due to its isolation, can be qualified as a lake), the Upper Lake in North America and Lake Victoria in Africa.

But after the flow of the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers, which fed the Aral, began to climb through the irrigation systems built, the lake became shallow. In the summer of 2014, his East End almost dried up, the volume of water decreased to 10%.

All this led to climate change, which became continental. On the spoken day former sea the sand-salt desert Aralkum appeared. Dust storms blow tiny particles salt interspersed with pesticides and agricultural fertilizers, which at one time got into the Aral Sea from the fields through the rivers and can adversely affect the health of people and animals. Because of the salinity, most species of marine life have disappeared, ports have closed, people have lost their jobs.

Among such catastrophes, affecting the population of the entire planet with their disastrous consequences, first of all, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant should be attributed. During the explosion of the fourth nuclear reactor it was completely destroyed. Work on the elimination of the consequences has not yet been completed. After April 26, 1986, all people were evacuated from the crash site within a radius of 30 km - 135,000 people and 35,000 livestock. A protected exclusion zone was created. Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia suffered the most from radioactive substances that got into the air. In other countries, there was also an increase radioactive background. More than 600,000 people participated in the aftermath of this disaster.

The largest earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011, followed by a tsunami, caused radiation accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which has the highest, seventh level. The external power supply facilities and backup diesel generators, which led to a failure in the cooling system, and then the meltdown core reactors at 1, 2, 3 power units. All financial damage, which includes decontamination works, compensation to victims and internally displaced persons, approximately, is 189 billion dollars.

Another catastrophe that affected the state of the entire biosphere of the Earth is called an explosion oil platform deepwater horizon, which happened on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill caused by the accident was the largest ever. At the time of the explosion itself and in the ensuing fire at the semi-submersible unit, 11 people died and 17 of the 126 were injured who were on the platform at that time. Two more died later. Oil flowed into the bay for 152 days, in total more than 5 million barrels fell into the bay. This technological disaster had a detrimental effect on the ecology of the entire region. suffered different kinds marine animals, fish and birds. And in the north Gulf of Mexico in the same year, an increased mortality of cetaceans was recorded. In addition to oil, on the surface of the water (the size of the spot reached 75,000 km²), a large number of underwater oil plumes formed, the length of which reached 16 km, and the width and height, respectively, 5 km and 90 m.

These are just a few terrible accidents that can be classified as the worst disasters in human history.But there were still others, sometimes less known, that brought people a lot of destruction and misfortune. Often these catastrophes were caused by war or a whole series of accidents, and in some cases grief brought destructive force nature.

For centuries, natural disasters have not let go of mankind. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the extent of the destruction. For example, the Mediterranean island of Stroggli is believed to have been razed to the ground by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The resulting tsunami wiped out the entire Minoan civilization, but no one knows even the approximate number of deaths. However, the 10 most devastating disasters known, mostly earthquakes and floods, have killed approximately 10 million people.

10. Aleppo earthquake - 1138, Syria (Victims: 230,000)

One of the most powerful earthquakes, known to mankind, and the fourth in terms of the number of victims (according to a rough estimate, over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of large geological faults, which also includes the Dead Sea depression, and which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Kalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. Such a number of victims and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the western crusader knights, because then in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, a rare city had a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only by early XIX century, when the population of 200 thousand inhabitants was again recorded in the city.

9. Indian Ocean Earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (Victims: 230,000+)

The third, and according to some estimates, the second largest, is the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean, which took place on December 26, 2004. It caused a tsunami, which caused most of the damage. Scientists estimate the magnitude of the earthquake from 9.1 to 9.3 points. The epicenter was under water, north of Simeulue Island, northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the height of the waves reached 15 meters. Many territories were subjected to huge destruction and casualties, including in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6900 km from the epicenter. Exact number casualties are unknown, but it is estimated at 225,000 to 300,000 people. It will not be possible to calculate the true figure, since many bodies were simply carried away by water into the sea. It is curious, but a few hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals sensitively reacted to the impending disaster - they left coastal zones moving to higher ground.

8. Destruction of the Banqiao Dam - 1975, China (Victims: 231,000)

There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000 people, takes into account only those directly drowned during the flood itself; taking into account those who died from epidemics and famine that spread as a result of the catastrophe, then total number the victims are, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed in such a way as to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of precipitation per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flood in 2000 years occurred as a result of the powerful typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused huge wave water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. The tide in an hour went 50 kilometers from the coast and reached the plains, created artificial lakes there with a total area of ​​12,000 square kilometers. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications.

7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (Victims: 242,000)

The second strongest earthquake also occurred in China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake took place in Hebei Province. Its magnitude was 8.2, which makes it the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the magnitude of the earthquake is only 7.8. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful aftershocks, the epicenter of which was at a depth of 22 km under the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are located 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were terrible - 5.3 million houses were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that it was impossible to live in them. The number of victims increased due to the subsequent series of aftershocks to 7.1 points. Today, in the center of Tangshan, there is a stele that recalls the terrible catastrophe, and there is also an information center dedicated to those events. It is a kind of museum on this subject, the only one in China.

6 Kaifeng Flood - 1642, China (Victims: 300,000)

Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was arranged by human hands. In 1642 in China there was peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the rebels from capturing the city, the command of the Ming Dynasty troops gave the order to flood the city and its surroundings with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by the artificial flood ended, it turned out that out of 600,000 people in the city and its environs, only half survived. At that time, it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.

5. Cyclone in India - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)

Although the photo of the cyclone does not belong to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it produced powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. Tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Coringa and sank 20,000 ships that were in the bay of the city.

4. Great Chinese earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)

In 1556 the most destructive earthquake in human history, called the Great China Earthquake. It happened on January 23, 1556 in Shaanxi Province. Historians believe that the natural disaster claimed the lives of about 830 thousand people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, while in the rest more than half of the people died. Such a huge number of victims was due to the fact that most of inhabitants lived in loess caves, which immediately collapsed during the first shocks or were subsequently flooded mudflows. According to contemporary assessments this earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that with the onset of a disaster, one should not rush headlong into the street: "When a bird's nest falls from a tree, the eggs often remain unharmed." Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in local museum Beilin. Many of them crumbled or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank by 1.6 meters.

3. Cyclone Bhola - 1970 (Victims: 500,000 - 1,000,000)

A devastating tropical cyclone that hit East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. About half a million people lost their lives due to the impact storm tide, which flooded many low-lying islands of the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm cyclone in the 1970 northern Indian Ocean hurricane season and the strongest of the year.
The cyclone formed over central part Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to shift to the north, while gaining strength. He reached the peak of his power on the evening of November 12, and on the same night contact was made with coastline East Pakistan. The storm surge devastated numerous offshore islands, sweeping away entire villages and destroying the region's farmlands in its wake. In the most affected area of ​​the country - upazila Tazumuddin - more than 45% of the 167,000 population died.
Political implications
The clumsy pace of the rescue effort only added to the anger and resentment in East Pakistan and fueled the local resistance movement. Subsidies were slow to arrive, transports slowly delivering much-needed funds to storm-ravaged areas. In March 1971, the tension was constantly growing, foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing bursts of violence. In the future, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into a war for independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of the same year, this conflict expanded into the third Indo-Pakistani war, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases when a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war that followed external intervention third force and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.

2. Flood in the Yellow River Valley - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)

One of the most terrible floods in the modern history of mankind, which, according to different sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million human lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the valley of the Yellow River. Heavy rains over almost all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a sharp bend, in the vicinity of the city of Zhangzhou.
Day after day, the bubbling waters invaded the territories of cities, destroying and devastating them. In total, 600 cities along the banks of the river were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The swift current continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water up to 15 meters deep.
Water often against the wind and tide slowly flooded terrace after terrace, each of which accumulated from 12 to 100 families. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People were lying on the roofs of houses, and the old people who did not die of hunger were dying of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like seaweed. Here and there behind old trees with thick branches were held strong men and called for help. In one place, a box with a dead child was nailed to a tree, which was placed there for safety by his parents. The box contained food and a note with a name on it. In another place, a family was found, all members of which had died, the child was placed on the most high place… well covered with clothes.”
The devastation and devastation left after the waters receded were simply terrible. Statistics have not been able to cope with the task - to calculate. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to all the misfortunes of the flood. It is estimated that half a million people died of cholera.

1. Great flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)

The summer monsoon season of 1931 was unusually stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged in the river basins. The dams withstood heavy rains and storms for weeks, but they eventually broke down and collapsed in hundreds of places. Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and crop losses were enormous. On the large areas the water did not come down from three to six months. Disease, lack of food, lack of shelter led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyu in the northern province of Jiangsu. On August 26, 1931, a powerful typhoon struck the fifth largest lake in China, Gaoyu. The water level in it has already risen to a record high as a result of heavy rains in previous weeks. The squally wind picked up high waves, beating against the dam. After midnight the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest gap reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.