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, 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.

In 2024, the number of deaths due to flooding in the United States amounted to *** fatalities. More than half of these deaths occurred in September. Already, ** flood-related fatalities have been reported in the U.S. in 2025, as of April.

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.

Flash flooding is the top weather-related killer, responsible for an average of 140 deaths per year across the United States. Although precipitation forecasting and understanding of flash flood causes have improved in recent years, there are still many unknown factors that play into flash flooding. Despite having accurate and timely rainfall reports, some river basins simply do not respond to rainfall as meteorologists might expect. The Flash Flood Potential Index (FFPI) was developed in order to gain insight into these “problem basins”, giving National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists insight into the intrinsic properties of a river basin and the potential for swift and copious rainfall runoff.

In 2023, floods caused the death of roughly ***** people across the globe. Nevertheless, this death toll is dwarfed in comparison to the peak recorded in 1999. That year, some ****** people died as a result of floods, mostly the consequence of one of the deadliest flood incidents of the previous century, which hit Venezuela in December. The effects of flooding While the death toll is the most critical impact of flooding incidents, it is not the only one. For example, more than ** million people were impacted by floods worldwide in 2023, including those injured, affected or left homeless. In 2010 alone, almost *** million people were affected. Floods also incur massive economic damage by destroying buildings and infrastructure. Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Egypt were the most exposed to river flooding as of 2024. Climate change and flooding As climate change causes global temperatures to rise, floods are expected to increase in frequency and severity. A warmer atmosphere is able to retain more moisture, leading to an increase in intense downpours. It also affects snowmelt patterns. According to a 2022 report, the global population exposed to flood was expected to rise by ** percent in the case of an increase in global temperatures of *** degrees Celsius.

Natural Disasters Deaths

People killed in natural disasters by country by year

About this dataset

How much do natural disasters cost us? In lives, in dollars, in infrastructure? This dataset attempts to answer those questions, tracking the death toll and damage cost of major natural disasters since 1985. Disasters included are storms ( hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones ), floods, earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, and extreme temperatures

How to use the dataset

This dataset contains information on natural disasters that have occurred around the world from 1900 to 2017. The data includes the date of the disaster, the location, the type of disaster, the number of people killed, and the estimated cost in US dollars

Research Ideas

• An all-in-one disaster map displaying all recorded natural disasters dating back to 1900.
• Natural disaster hotspots - where do natural disasters most commonly occur and kill the most people?
• A live map tracking current natural disasters around the world

Acknowledgements

License

See the dataset description for more information.

"Disaster data for countries along the belt and road, mainly from the global disaster database.The records information of disaster database are from the United Nations, government and non-governmental organizations, research institutions and the media. It's documented in detail such as the country where the disaster occurred, the type of disaster, the date of the disaster, the number of deaths and the estimated economic losses. This study extracts the natural disaster records of the countries along the One Belt And One Road line one by one from the database, and finally forms the disaster database of 9 major disasters of the 65 countries. The natural disaster records collected can be roughly divided into nine categories, including: floods, landslides, extreme temperatures, storms, droughts, forest fires, earthquakes, mass movements and volcanic activities. From 1900 to 2018, a total of 5,479 disaster records were recorded in countries along the One Belt And One Road. From 2000 to 2015, there were 2,673 disaster records. On this basis, the natural disasters of the countries along the belt and road are investigated from four aspects, including disaster frequency, death toll, disaster-affected population and economic loss assessment. Overall, since 1900, a total of 5479 natural disasters have occurred in countries along the One Belt And One Road, resulting in about 19 million deaths and economic losses of about 950 billion us dollars. Among them, the most frequent occurrence is flood and storm; the biggest economic losses are floods and earthquakes; the most affected people are flood and drought; drought and flooding are the leading causes of death

This statistic shows the ten natural disasters that resulted in the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 and 2016. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina (listed as storm) caused 1,833 fatalities in the United States.

Link to the ScienceBase Item Summary page for the item described by this metadata record. Service Protocol: Link to the ScienceBase Item Summary page for the item described by this metadata record. Application Profile: Web Browser. Link Function: information

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.

There were a total of 1,033 fatalities reported due to heat waves, wildfires, and drought in the United States in 2024. In total, there were about 1,576 fatalities due to severe natural disasters in the United States that year.

In 2023, the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the highest number of deaths due to floods worldwide, with roughly ***** fatalities. India followed second, with roughly half the number of fatalities, at ***** deaths recorded. Africa accounted for more than half of deaths due to floods worldwide in 2023.

The 2021 floods in Germany and Belgium ranked among the ten deadliest flood events in Europe in the past 100 years, with a total of 209 fatalities. Nevertheless, the storm surge in the Netherlands and Belgium in 1953 remains Europe's deadliest flood in the period, with over two thousand fatalities. Coming at a second position is the flood that occurred in Romania, on the Danube river in 1926, which resulted in a death toll of 1,000 people.

With a risk index score of 9.9, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Vietnam are the top countries worldwide regarding river flood risk, based on their physical exposure to this type of event. Thailand followed a close second, with a risk index score of 9.8. Where are flooding events most common? In 2024, nine out of the top 10 countries in terms of exposure to river flood risk were located in Asia, in particular in the south and eastern regions of the continent. Southeast Asia is prone to frequent and intense flooding events due to several factors, which include low average elevations, high incidence of tropical storms and heavy rains, prolonged monsoons, and underdeveloped flood protection infrastructure. In addition, climate change is also contributing to the increase in frequency and severity of these events. It is estimated that the global population exposed to flooding incidents will increase by 30 percent in a two-degrees-Celsius warming scenario. Record-breaking floods in Pakistan and Bangladesh Amongst the countries most exposed to floods in Southeast Asia, Bangladesh and Pakistan were particularly affected by floods in 2022. Torrential rain and unceasing downpours struck the countries from early June that year, leading to one of the worst flooding events in their history. In Pakistan, the floods have caused more than 1,700 deaths. In Bangladesh, an estimated 7.2 million people were affected by widespread damage to homes, infrastructure, croplands, and sanitation facilities. Overall, Pakistan and Bangladesh had some of the largest populations exposed to flood risk worldwide.

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.

The monsoon of 2020 caused widespread devastation across India. The highest recorded deaths this monsoon season due to floods and landslides was in the state of West Bengal where 239 people died. On August 7, 2020, heavy rains majorly impacted the southern state of Kerala and claimed the lives of 23 people that day.

Floods across India caused a total of *** deaths in 2022, down from some *** deaths recorded in the previous year. Over the last decade, the highest number of deaths due to floods across the country was in 2010, with a death toll of *** people.