This statistic shows the number of deaths due to flooding disasters in certain countries between 1900 and 2016*. The floods in China in July 1931 led to 3.7 million deaths.FloodsThe 1931 Central China floods caused the most deaths due to a flood in the past century. 28 years later in 1959, the Yellow River flooded into East China killing an estimated 2 million people. The death toll due to this flood has been also associated with the Great sparrow campaign that arose due to the Great Chinese Famine that began in 1958. Citizens were told to kill sparrows and other wild birds that ate crop seeds which lead to an explosive increase in the population of crop-eating insects. This massive ecological shift, starvation, as well as floods and drought lead to the deaths of many Chinese people. More recently, a 1996 flood and 1998 flood in Yangtze, China caused some 30.7 billion U.S. dollars and 24 billion U.S. dollars in damage. In 2014, 38 lives were lost in the United States due to floods or flash floods. Since 1980, the two of the most significant natural disasters have been the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, which caused 22,570 deaths and the 2004 earthquake and resulting tsunami which caused 220,000 deaths in countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka. Death tolls in Haiti were aggravated by poverty and poor housing conditions that many Haitians experience.

In 2023, California and Pennsylvania saw the highest number of flood fatalities across the United States, each with 10 deaths as a result of flooding events. Arizona and Colorado followed, with seven deaths registered due to floods. Overall, the number of flood fatalities across the whole North American country amounted to 79 that year.

This dataset is a merged and unified one from seven individual datasets, making it the longest records ever and wide coverage in the US for flood studies. All individual databases and a unified database are provided to accommodate different user needs. It is anticipated that this database can support a variety of flood-related research, such as a validation resource for hydrologic or hydraulic simulations, climatic studies concerning spatiotemporal patterns of floods given this long-term and U.S.-wide coverage, and flood susceptibility analysis for vulnerable geophysical locations.

Description of filenames:

1. cyberFlood_1104.csv – web-based crowdsourced flood database, developed at the University of Oklahoma (Wan et al., 2014). 203 flood events from 1998 to 2008 are retrieved with the latest version. Data accessed on 11/04/2020.

Data attributes: ID, Year, Month, Day, Duration, fatality, Severity, Cause, Lat, Long, Country Code, Continent Code

2. DFO.xlsx – the Dartmouth Flood Observatory flood database. It is a tabular form of global flood database, collected from news, government agencies, stream gauges, and remote sensing instruments from 1985 to the present. Data accessed on 10/27/2020.

Data attributes: ID, GlodeNumber, Country, OtherCountry, long, lat, Area, Began, Ended, Validation, Dead, Displaced, MainCause, Severity

3. emdat_public_2020_11_01_query_uid-MSWGVQ.xlsx – Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). This flood report is managed by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Belgium, which contains all types of global natural disasters from 1900 to the present. Data accessed on 11/01/2020.

Data attributes: Dis No, Year, Seq, Disaster Group, Disaster Subgroup, Disaster Type, Disaster Subtype, Disaster Subsubtype, Event Nane, Entity Criteria, Country, ISO, Region, Continent, Location, Origin, Associated Disaster, Associated Disaster2, OFDA Response, Appeal, Declaration, Aid Contribution, Disaster Magnitude, Latitude, Longitude, Local Time, River Basin, Start Year, Start Month, Start Day, End Year, End Month, End Day, Total Death, No. Injured, No. Affected, No. Homeless, Total Affected, Reconstruction, Insured Damages, Total Damages, CPI

4. extracted_events_NOAA.csv – The national weather service storm reports. The NOAA NWS team collects weather-related natural hazards from 1950 to the present. Data accessed on 10/27/2020.

Data attributes: BEGIN_YEARMONTH, BEGIN_DAY, BEGIN_TIME, END_YEARMONTH, END_DAY, END_TIME, EPISODE_ID, EVENT_ID, STATE, STATE_FIPS, YEAR, MONTH_NAME, EVENT_TYPE, CZ_TYPE, CZ_FIPS, CZ_NAME, WFO, BEGIN_DATETIME, CZ_TIMEZONE, END_DATE_TIME, INJURIES_DIRECT, INJURIES_INDIRECT, DEATHS_DIRECT, DEATHS_INDIRECT, DAMAGE_PROPERTY, DAMAGE_CROPS, SOURCE, MAGNITUDE, MAGNITUDE_TYPE, FLOOD CAUSE, CATEGORY, TOR_F_SCALE< TOR_LENGTH, TOR_WIDTH, TOR_OTHER_WFO, TOR_OTHER_CZ_STATE, TOR_OTHER_CZ_FIPS, BEGIN_RANGE, BEGIN_AZIMUTH, BEGIN_LOCATION, END_RANGE, END_AZIMUTH, END_LOCATION, BEGIN_LAT, BEGIN_LON, END_LAT, END_LON, EPISODE_NARRATIVE, EVENT_NARRATIVE, DATA_SOURCE

5. FEDB_1118.csv – The University of Connecticut Flood Events Database. Floods retrieved from 6,301 stream gauges in the U.S. after flow separation from 2002 to 2013 (Shen et al., 2017). Data accessed on 11/18/2020.

Data attributes: STCD, StartTimeP, EndTimeP, StartTimeF, EndTimeF, Perc, Peak, RunoffCoef, IBF, Vp, Vb, Vt, Pmean, ETr, ELs, VarTr, VarLs, EQ, Q2, CovTrLs, Category, Geometry

6. GFM_events.csv – Global Flood Monitoring dataset. It is a crowdsourcing flood database derived from Twitter tweets over the globe since 2014. Data accessed on 11/9/2020.

Data attributes: event_id, location_ID, location_ID_url, name, type, country_location_ID, country_ISO3, start, end, time of detection

7. mPing_1030.csv – meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground (mPing). The mPing app is a crowdsourcing, weather-reporting software jointly developed by NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the University of Oklahoma (Elmore et al., 2014). Data accessed on 10/30/2020.

Data attributes: id, obtime, category, description, description_id, lon, lat

8. USFD_v1.0.csv – A merged United States Flood Database from 1900 to the present.

Data attributes: DATE_BEGIN, DATE_END, DURATION, LON, LAT, COUNTRY, STATE, AREA, FATALITY, DAMAGE, SEVERITY, SOURCE, CAUSE, SOURCE_DB, SOURCE_ID, DESCRIPTION, SLOPE, DEM, LULC, DISTANCE_RIVER, CONT_AREA, DEPTH, YEAR.

Details of attributes:

DATE_BEGIN: begin datetime of an event. yyyymmddHHMMSS

DATE_END: end datetime of an event. yyyymmddHHMMSS

DURATION: duration of an event in hours

LON: longitude in degrees

LAT: latitude in degrees

COUNTRY: United States of America

STATE: US state name

AREA: affected areas in km^2

FATALITY: number of fatalities

DAMAGE: economic damages in US dollars

SEVERITY: event severity, (1/1.5/2) according to DFO.

SOURCE: flood information source.

CAUSE: flood cause.

SOURCE_DB: source database from item 1-7.

SOURCE_ID: original ID in the source database.

DESCRIPTION: event description

SLOPE: calculated slope based on SRTM DEM 90m

DEM: Digital Elevation Model

LULC: Land Use Land Cover

DISTANCE_RIVER: distance to major river network in km,

CONT_AREA: contributing area (km^2), from MERIT Hydro

DEPTH: 500-yr flood depth

YEAR: year of the event.

The script to merge all sources and figure plots can be found in https://github.com/chrimerss/USFD.

Flood can be categorized as flash floods, river floods, and coastal floods. The most lethal type of flooding is flash floods usually are usually contributed to by rainfall intensity and duration. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused 1,833 deaths and the flooding from the storm is considered one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history.

In 2023, there were a total of 79 fatalities reported due to floods in the United States, down from 105 fatalities in the previous year. Since 2010, the highest number of ives lost due to floods in a single year was recorded in 2015, with a total of 189.

In 2023, the United States experienced 25 natural disasters, which made it the most natural catastrophe-prone country in the world that year. India and China came second on that list with 17 natural disasters occurring in the same year. Floods was the most common type of natural disaster in 2023. Types of natural disasters There are many different types of natural disasters that occur worldwide, including earthquakes, droughts, storms, floods, volcanic activity, extreme temperatures, landslides, and wild fires. Overall, there were 398 natural disasters registered all over the world in 2023. Costs of natural disasters Due to their destructive nature, natural disasters take a severe toll on populations and countries. Storms and floods, which tend to occur most regularly, have the biggest economic impact in the countries that they occur. In 2023, storms caused damages estimated at more than 100 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to natural disasters neared 100,000 that year. The earthquake in Turkey in February had the highest death toll, with more than 50,000 fatalities. Scientists predict that some natural disasters such as storms, floods, landslides, and wildfires will be more frequent and more intense in the future, creating both human and financial losses.

In 2023, there were *** flood disaster events recorded worldwide. This marks a slight decrease from the *** disasters in 2022 but remains significantly higher than the average ** floods per year reported in the 1990s. The peak in the past three decades occurred in 2006, with *** flood disasters.

Devastating human and economic toll Floods continue to take a heavy toll on human lives and economies worldwide. In 2023, approximately ** million people were impacted by flooding, including injuries and displacement. Although the number of people affected by floods has decreased since the beginning of the century, due in large part to an improvement in flood protection, better warning systems, and forecasting, the economic burden they cause has increased. Economic loss caused by floods amounted to *** billion U.S. dollars in the past decade, the highest since the *****. Five of the ten costliest floods since 1900 have occurred after 2010, underscoring the increasing financial burden of these events.

Regional disparities in flood impact The impact of floods varies significantly across regions. In 2023, Africa bore the brunt of flood-related fatalities, accounting for over ** percent of global flood deaths. Asia also suffered severely, with over ***** casualties in 2023. Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Thailand, are among the most exposed to river flood risk worldwide due to factors such as low elevations, frequent tropical cyclones, and prolonged monsoons.

The hurricanes in the U.S. and Mexico in September and October incurred an economic loss of about 110 billion U.S. dollars, the most of any natural disaster event in 2024. Three of the ten most expensive catastrophes in that year were hurricanes. Weather, climate, water related disaster The disasters that caused mortality in large numbers include droughts, storms, floods, and extreme temperatures. Hurricanes alone generated 35 percent of the total economic losses among the leading disasters over these 50 years. The global cost of natural disaster losses was primarily financial losses. Low-income countries are more affected by natural disasters when compared to the richer countries in the world. American Hurricanes Floods were the most common weather-related disasters recorded, yet storms had the highest human and economic losses. As the most common cause of damage, storms are the only disaster for which the attribution component grows. As of 2023, Hurricane Katrina was by far the most destructive hurricane in the United States. Officials confirmed more than 1,800 deaths, estimated damages of about 200 billion U.S. dollars, the destruction of approximately 350,000 homes, and displaced almost a million individuals.

In 2024, the United States experienced 29 natural disasters, which made it the most natural catastrophe-prone country in the world that year. Indonesia and China came second on that list, with 20 and 18 natural disasters occurring in the same year, respectively. Storms were the most common type of natural disaster in 2024. Types of natural disasters There are many different types of natural disasters that occur worldwide, including earthquakes, droughts, storms, floods, volcanic activity, extreme temperatures, landslides, and wildfires. Overall, there were 398 natural disasters registered all over the world in 2023. Costs of natural disasters Due to their destructive nature, natural disasters take a severe toll on populations and countries. Tropical cyclones have the biggest economic impact in the countries that they occur. In 2024, tropical cyclones caused damage estimated at more than 145 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to natural disasters neared 18,100 that year. The Heat Wave in Saudi Arabia had the highest death toll, with 1,301 fatalities. Scientists predict that some natural disasters such as storms, floods, landslides, and wildfires will be more frequent and more intense in the future, creating both human and financial losses.

Lightning and thunderstorms were the leading cause for extreme weather event-related deaths in India in 2022, with 1,285 recorded fatalities. Other extreme weather events that resulted in several lives lost were floods and heavy rains. Thunder and lightning in India

India is amongst the leading countries in terms of annual lightning strikes. Lightning is the result of an electric discharge between clouds or between clouds and the earth. The warmer temperatures experienced during India’s monsoon season facilitate the quick formation of clouds that create suitable conditions for these lightning strikes. Sadly, there are many deaths attributed to lightning strikes every year across the country.

Effects of extreme weather in India

The average annual economic damage due to climate-related events in India approached 90 billion U.S. dollars in recent years. In addition to financial losses and physical damage, the loss of life caused by extreme weather affects all parts of the country. Strikingly, a survey conducted across the South Asian country found that most Indians believed that they would be affected by a major natural disaster.

A drought in Ethiopia in 1983 caused 300 thousand deaths, the deadliest natural disaster recorded in Africa between 1970 and 2019. Drought was the natural disaster that caused the largest number of deaths in Africa, much more than floods and landslides. Some of the deadliest droughts occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, especially in the Horn of Africa and Eastern Africa. The Horn of Africa has been largely affected by floods, landslides, and tropical cyclones. For instance, thousands of people, mainly in South Sudan, Sudan, and Somalia, were displaced due to various hazards and climate-induced disasters.

Africa’s vulnerability to climate change

Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change. A large share of the population lives in poverty and its livelihood depends on activities extremely sensitive to climate changes and weather conditions, such as agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Climate conditions for agricultural production have worsened in the last years, according to five out of 10 Africans. People living in rural areas and working directly in agriculture are more observant of this phenomenon.

Economic impact of natural disasters

The majority of natural disasters that affect Africa are floods, which represent 60 percent of all reported natural disasters recorded over the last decades. Natural disasters such as droughts, storms, and landslides have a huge economic impact. A drought in South Africa in 1990 and Cyclone Idai, in Mozambique in 2019, were the most expensive climate disasters recorded in Africa between 1970 and 2019. Each of these two events caused an economic loss of almost two billion U.S. dollars.

A drought in South Africa in 1990 incurred an economic loss of about 1.96 billion U.S. dollars. Storm Idai, in Mozambique in 2019, also had an economic impact of 1.96 billion U.S. dollars. These two events resulted in the largest economic losses from climate disasters recorded in Africa between 1970 and 2019.

Drought risk in Africa

Droughts have caused an enormous number of human losses. The deadliest natural events in Africa are droughts and caused thousands of fatalities, especially in the 1970s and 1980s in the Horn of Africa and Eastern Africa. Many countries with the highest risk of droughts are in Africa. In 2020, Somalia was the most endangered country in the world. Among the ten countries most at risk of droughts, eight were African.

Economic impact of droughts

Between 1970 and 2019, droughts have impacted heavily the economies of various African countries, including Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Namibia, and South Africa. During the last decades, droughts cost Zimbabwe 0.14 percent of the country's GDP. Five of the 10 most expensive weather, climate, and water -related disasters in Africa over the last decades were droughts.