Natural disasters are happening around the world constantly. It can either be a hurricane or a flood but, have you ever wondered what was the most dangerous natural disaster that has happened in history? Today I will be explaining three deadly natural disasters that have happened around the world.
Bhola Cyclone
The Bhola Cyclone was one of the deadliest natural disasters that has ever happened. It occurred in the country of Bangladesh, killing hundreds of thousands of people.
November 1970. It was raining in Bangladesh. There had been a tropical depression (cyclones with winds that gust at 38 miles per hour or less) in the Bay of Bengal. It was raining heavily, damaging crops and houses and causing floods. The government was reacting slowly and was very hostile at that time. This affected the weather data communications at the time.
It was November 12, 1970, the storm started moving rapidly north-northeast, winds near 130 mph towards Pakistan (present day Bangladesh). The government had issued warnings for coastal areas earlier warning citizens to evacuate. The cyclone swept a storm surge (abnormal rise in water levels, created by storm tides that hit the surface, creating a flood) 35ft or 10.5m, the deadliest in history. Once it made landfall it washed off flat and outlying islands. The largest island that was hit was Bhola island (Dakhin Shahbazpur Island). The storm surge killed off fishing communities and more. An estimate of 300,000 to 500,000 deaths or more were counted.
1960 Valdivia earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in history, measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale. This earthquake happened in Chile on May 22, 1960.
At 3:11 PM the earthquake struck 100 miles off the coast of Chile. The earthquake lasted about 10 minutes before stopping. The earthquake destroyed homes, cities, and buildings. During the earthquake it was difficult to stand and houses would be in shambles or completely destroyed. The earthquake had formed a tsunami near the Chilean coastline. 15 minutes later the 80 ft. tsunami hit Chile just after the earthquake. The tsunami caused 1,655 deaths, 3,000 injuries, left 2,000,000 people homeless, and created $550 million damage in southern Chile.
The Tri-State Tornado
The Tri-State Tornado was a massive and deadly tornado.This tornado was a F5 tornado, the strongest ever recorded.
There were no technologies back then to be able to detect tornadoes. The tornado had formed near Ellington, Missouri.
The tornado formed around 12:45 pm on March 18, 1925. The tornado had killed eight people and started to cross the Mississippi River towards Illinois. At 1:01 pm was the first reported sighting of the tornado. When arriving at Illinois, this caused more mass destruction for families, homes, and communities. The Tri-State Tornado arrived in Illinois destroying 100% of the community of Gorham. By that point the tornado had caused 230 deaths, as it continued through southern Illinois, destroying many more communities. The tornado’s next stop was Indiana, completely destroying the Griffin community. Once the tornado arrived at Petersburg, Indiana that was the last sighting of the tornado at 4:30 pm.
Approximately 695 people perished and 2,027 injuries were recorded. About 15,000 homes were destroyed. About 13 counties experienced severe damage. The tornado caused about $17 million dollars in damage which is approximately $2.74 billion dollars in today’s currency.
