We’ve been obsessed with big floods for as long as we’ve been keeping records.
Look at any old chronicle from the early Middle Ages. You will find entries describing water levels that defied logic. The same goes for ancient civilizations in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys. Their stories of catastrophic rains echo in the biblical narrative of the Flood. China has its own accounts. Even here in Central Europe, the upper Elbe river has a violent history.
Drive through Meißen or past Pillnitz Palace near Dresden. Look at the walls. You will see marks left by past disasters. These are high-water markers. They tell a story of water rising higher than anyone expected. In 1890, the Elbe hit a peak flow of 4,350 cubic meters per second. That is roughly fourteen times the average flow. The Hof of the Dresden Zwinger was underwater then. It was underwater again in August 2002.
The Donau is no stranger to this either. Historical records list countless devastating floods along its banks.
But why do we still talk about them decades later?
Observations over many years show that floods account for about 30% of natural disasters worldwide. They are also, on average, responsible for the most fatalities. To understand the scale, look at the data. The numbers are not just statistics. They are mass graves.
The Deadliest Events in History
Some events stand out. The scale of loss is difficult to comprehend.
In 1887, the Huang River in China burst its banks. An estimated 900,000 people died. That is one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.
Four years later, a tsunami hit Honshu, Japan. The death toll reached 26,000.
Then came 1931. The Huang River flooded again. Another 20,000 lives were lost.
The pattern repeats. In 1959, northern China suffered massive floods. The estimate is 2 million deaths. This number dwarfs most other entries on the list.
In 1971, a cyclone created a storm surge in Bangladesh. 300,000 people died.
A few years later, in 1974 and 1975, the delta region faced severe flooding. The death toll climbed to 1 million.
China saw another catastrophe in 1976. A dam broke in Henan province. The resulting flood wave killed over 80,000 people.
India faced its own tragedies. In 1978, floods hit the north and northeast. Estimates suggest up to 15,000 deaths. Later that same year, a dam burst near the industrial city of Morvi. A flood wave three to five meters high swept over the city for about four hours. Up to 25,000 people died.
Thailand suffered from September to December in 1983. The floods killed 10,000 people.
Bangladesh struck again in 1991. A cyclone and storm surge killed up to 500,000 people.
Pakistan and India saw floods in the northwest in 1992. The death toll reached 3,000.
Europe and Beyond: The 1990s and 2000s
The 1990s brought floods to Europe too. In 1995, the Rhine flooded in both the Netherlands and Germany. In Holland, 240,000 people had to be evacuated.
The Oder River caused havoc in 1997. It affected Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Over 100 people died in Poland and the Czech Republic. Germany evacuated 2,000 people.
China faced the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in 1998. Over 3,000 people died.
Mozambique was hit in 2000 and 2001. The Zambezi and Limpopo rivers flooded. Over 1,000 people died.
The 2002 floods hit Central Europe hard. The Elbe and Donau rivers rose. Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic were affected. At least 100 people died.
Then came the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Triggered by a seabed earthquake, it killed around 300,000 people. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, and the Maldives were devastated.
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. 1,800 people died.
Monsun floods in India and Bangladesh in 2008 killed more than 2,000 people.
Pakistan faced a massive flood in 2010
