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 ***** deaths and the flooding from the storm is considered one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history.

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti on August 2021 has been the deadliest natural disaster in Latin America and the Caribbean from 2018 to 2022, estimated to have killed 2,248 people. The earthquake was followed by the mudslide and flash flood caused by a collapsed dam in Brumadinho, Brazil in 2019 with approximately 300 deaths.

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.

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.