Disasters

Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region, killing at least 250 people and causing catastrophic inland flooding across the Southeast — the deadliest US hurricane since Katrina.

The Palisades and Eaton Fires destroyed over 16,000 structures across Los Angeles County, killing 28 people and forcing 180,000 to evacuate in the deadliest California wildfire event in decades.

Catastrophic flooding across southern and central Mozambique has killed over 150 people and displaced nearly 400,000, with more than 800,000 affected in the country's worst flood disaster in years.

Intense Tropical Cyclone Gezani struck Madagascar's east coast with wind gusts exceeding 250 km/h, killing at least 59 people, injuring over 800, and affecting nearly 480,000 residents.

Back-to-back Kona Low storms delivered the worst flooding in Hawaii in 20 years, with 30+ inches of rain, 100 mph wind gusts, and an estimated $1 billion in damages across multiple islands.

Torrential rain, flash floods, and landslides have killed over 110 people across 20+ Afghan provinces since late March, compounded by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake near Kabul.

Torrential rains have triggered deadly floods and landslides across western and central Angola, killing at least 71 people, displacing 76,000, and affecting over 220,000 residents since March 2026.

Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Maila has battered the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea with 215 km/h winds, storm surges, and flooding, killing at least two people and causing widespread destruction.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Vaianu has swept through Fiji and is bearing down on New Zealand, displacing over 1,400 Fijians and prompting a state of emergency in Northland.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku is bearing down on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands after battering Chuuk, prompting emergency declarations across the western Pacific as forecasts warn of a Category 3-4 landfall.

Mount Mayon erupted on May 2, 2026, sending pyroclastic density currents and heavy ashfall across Albay Province and forcing over 102,000 residents to evacuate. PHIVOLCS lowered the alert to Level 2 on August 5, and evacuees have since returned home.

Surging Euphrates River waters, triggered by massive upstream dam releases in Turkey, inundated farmland and homes across Syria's Raqqa and Deir el-Zour provinces in late May 2026, displacing nearly 14,000 people and knocking scores of water stations offline.

Monsoon floods that began in late June 2026 swept across Assam, killing 100 people as of August 10 and displacing more than 700,000, with nearly 300,000 forced into relief camps as the Brahmaputra and its tributaries surged past danger levels.

The Babylon Fire southwest of Monticello, Utah has burned more than 106,000 acres to become the largest active wildfire in the United States and the state's first megafire in eight years, forcing pre-evacuation orders across San Juan County and the emergency relocation of the county jail.

A wind-driven outbreak of wildfires across Colorado has killed three federal firefighters, destroyed roughly 155 structures near Beulah and Rye, and forced thousands to evacuate as nine major fires burned statewide by June 30, 2026.

Catastrophic flooding struck Ghana's capital Accra and other parts of southern Ghana on June 29, 2026, killing at least 12 people, displacing thousands, and prompting President Mahama to release GH¢300 million in emergency relief funds.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao on June 8, 2026, killing at least 65 people, injuring more than 1,400, and affecting over 736,000 residents across southern Mindanao.

Back-to-back magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026, killing at least 6,509 people and devastating La Guaira and the Caracas region in the country's strongest quake in more than 125 years.

Two waves of wildfires during North African heatwaves killed 18 people across northern and north-eastern Algeria in July and August 2026, and the Algerian Red Crescent estimates about 15,000 people were affected. Fires on July 18 killed six, and fires in 10 provinces on August 26 killed 12 and injured 54.

A fast-moving wildfire that ignited near Los Gallardos in Almería province on July 9, 2026 has killed at least 12 people, left 23 missing, and burned more than 3,200 hectares in one of Spain's deadliest fires on record.

Exceptionally heavy monsoon rain over southeastern Bangladesh in July 2026 triggered widespread flooding and landslides that killed 59 people as of July 19, according to the IFRC, and affected more than 1.1 million people across 10 districts.

Wind-driven wildfires tore through British Columbia's Okanagan region from late July 2026, destroying about 230 homes near Vernon, forcing the evacuation of Summerland and Peachland, and prompting a provincial state of emergency.

A slow-moving storm system dumped 6 to 16 inches of rain across South-Central Texas in 24 hours, prompting a rare high-risk flood threat, dozens of high-water rescues around Uvalde, and a state disaster declaration covering 59 counties from the Gulf Coast to the Hill Country.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Chiapas near the Guatemala border on July 17, 2026, triggering a brief tsunami alert, damaging homes and schools, and shaking an estimated 22 million people across southern Mexico and Central America.

A powerful winter storm system dumped torrential rain and hurricane-force winds across central and southern Chile, killing at least three people, cutting power to 257,000 customers, and forcing hundreds of families into emergency shelters.

A massive landslide buried more than 10 residential buildings in Pengshui County, Chongqing, killing at least eight people and leaving 34 missing, with over 1,100 residents evacuated.

A forest fire that broke out in Gironde on July 22, 2026 burned about 42,000 hectares, the largest wildfire in France since 1949, and forced the evacuation of nearly 220,000 people. About 150 homes were destroyed in Le Porge and more than 110 firefighters were injured, but no civilians were killed.

A fast-moving wildfire that erupted July 4, 2026 in a ravine north of Thessaloniki forced evacuations across three suburbs and engulfed a recycling plant, blanketing Greece's second-largest city in toxic smoke as 96 fires flared nationwide in just two days.

A rare wedge tornado and severe thunderstorms tore through central China's Hubei Province on July 6, 2026, killing at least 11 people, injuring more than 330, and damaging thousands of homes across Huanggang, Ezhou, Huangshi, and Xianning.

Record-breaking torrential rains from linear rainbands slammed Japan's Kyushu region beginning July 1, 2026, killing at least three people, triggering deadly landslides and river flooding, and prompting evacuation advisories for more than 360,000 residents across seven prefectures.

A shallow magnitude 7.1 earthquake on the Hinagu Fault struck Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28, 2026, producing the maximum shindo 7 shaking, killing 39 people as of August 11 and damaging nearly 32,000 homes across Kyushu.

Relentless monsoon rain has killed 62 people across Maharashtra since the start of the season, with the deluge that hit Mumbai, Pune and the Konkan coast in early July 2026 triggering red alerts, submerging entire neighbourhoods and forcing the deployment of 17 NDRF teams.

A 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event dumped 8 to 12 inches of rain on southeastern Missouri, triggering catastrophic flash floods along the Black River and Huzzah Creek that killed at least one person, left several missing, and forced more than 350 rescues including 200 children from a summer camp.

A wind-driven wildfire burning since July 1, 2026 near Vouzela has spread across Viseu district and into neighboring municipalities, injuring at least nine people, destroying homes and farm buildings, and pushing 2026 to Portugal's worst wildfire season since 2017.

Days of torrential monsoon rain have triggered a chain of landslides and flash flooding across the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, killing at least 18 people — most of them children — and forcing thousands from destroyed shelters.

Massive wildfires fueled by drought and strong winds scorched over 1,200 hectares across southern France in early July 2026, forcing thousands of evacuations near Marseille, in the Aude department, and along the Mediterranean coast.

A fast-moving wildfire that broke out July 3, 2026 near La Bisbal d'Empordà in Catalonia's Girona province has burned more than 2,300 hectares along the Costa Brava, confining roughly 12,000 residents indoors and forcing evacuations at holiday camps and coastal municipalities.

Super Typhoon Bavi, the third Category 5 storm of 2026, struck Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands on July 6, damaging or destroying about half of the island's structures and prompting a federal major disaster declaration, then drove deadly monsoon rain in the Philippines and forced about 1.72 million evacuations in Zhejiang, China.

Typhoon Maysak made two landfalls in early July 2026, in Hainan, China, on July 3 and in Quang Ninh, Vietnam, on July 4, before torrential rain flooded Guangxi, where at least 159 people died and 10 were missing as of August 21, including 107 killed when six dams collapsed in Nanning.

A deep magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026, killing at least 335 people, injuring more than 4,600 and damaging or destroying more than 240,000 homes in the country's deadliest quake since 1999.

A shallow magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Flores in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on August 15, 2026, killing 142 people as of September 15, injuring 1,776 and displacing more than 188,000, with about 95,567 homes damaged.

Hurricane Lala brushed the Big Island's South Point as a Category 1 storm on August 15, 2026, dumping more than 30 inches of rain that caused catastrophic flooding in the Kaʻū District, leaving three people dead and about 200,000 customers statewide without power.

A derecho on August 11, 2026, followed by 6 to 9 inches of rain, brought destructive winds and major flooding to northwest and east-central Indiana, killing seven people and cutting power to about 300,000 customers.

A rock-ice avalanche off the Langtang Lirung massif on August 26, 2026, unleashed a debris flow and flash flood down the Bhote Koshi–Trishuli valley, killing at least 1,455 people in Nepal and 43 in Tibet as of October 5, with more than 5,000 still missing, in Nepal's deadliest disaster since the 2015 earthquake.

Weeks of southwest monsoon rain, intensified by four tropical cyclones from August 2026, flooded much of Luzon, killing 43 people and affecting more than 9.6 million across 10 regions, according to the NDRRMC in early September.

Three fast-moving wildfires burned into Spokane, Washington, on August 1, 2026, destroying about 846 structures, forcing about 65,000 people to evacuate and causing more than $1 billion in estimated losses.

Hurricane Lowell passed about 35 miles west of Niʻihau as a Category 2 storm on the night of September 7, 2026, bringing catastrophic surge and flooding to Kauaʻi, killing three people and cutting power to more than 90% of Kauaʻi residents.

Hurricane Polo, a record-strength Category 5 storm, flooded Mexico's Pacific coast before making landfall in Baja California Sur and Sonora in late September 2026, killing at least seven people and damaging more than 8,000 homes.

Several days of very heavy rain from a Bay of Bengal deep depression flooded Uttar Pradesh in late September 2026, killing 81 people and damaging more than 2,200 houses, while Odisha, in eastern India, evacuated more than 75,000 people.

The remnants of Hurricane Rachel unleashed deadly flash floods in Ensenada, Baja California, on October 10–11, 2026, as Hurricane Simon brought heavy rain to Mexico's Pacific coast, leaving at least six people dead and five missing.

Australia's Black Summer bushfire season burned over 46 million acres, killed 34 people and an estimated 3 billion animals, and destroyed thousands of homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused over 7 million confirmed deaths worldwide, overwhelmed health systems, and triggered the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Super Cyclone Amphan, the strongest storm to form in the Bay of Bengal in two decades, devastated eastern India and Bangladesh, affecting over 18 million people.

A massive explosion at Beirut's port — one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history — killed over 200 people, injured 7,000, and left 300,000 homeless.

Hurricane Laura made landfall as one of the strongest hurricanes to hit Louisiana, with 150 mph winds devastating Lake Charles and surrounding communities.

Back-to-back Category 4 hurricanes struck Central America within two weeks, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides that affected over 9 million people.

Record-breaking rainfall caused catastrophic flooding across western Europe, killing over 240 people — mostly in Germany and Belgium — in the deadliest European flood disaster in decades.

The Taliban takeover and withdrawal of international forces triggered a massive humanitarian crisis, with the economy collapsing and millions facing acute food insecurity.

A devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti's southern peninsula, killing over 2,200 people and destroying more than 130,000 homes.

Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Louisiana before its remnants caused catastrophic flooding across the northeastern US, killing over 90 people.

A devastating December tornado outbreak produced a record-breaking 165-mile-long tornado track across four states, killing nearly 80 people in Kentucky alone.

Super Typhoon Rai, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines in 2021, devastated the Visayas and Mindanao regions, killing over 400 people and displacing millions.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, displacing millions and causing widespread destruction.

Monsoon rains triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan's recent history, submerging one-third of the country and displacing tens of millions.

Category 4 Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic damage along Florida's southwest coast, devastating Fort Myers and surrounding communities with extreme storm surge.

A powerful 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck near Cianjur on Java island, destroying thousands of buildings and causing heavy landslides.

A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Southern Turkey, killing over 56,000 people and displacing 3 million in one of the deadliest earthquakes of the 21st century.

The longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded struck Malawi with catastrophic flooding after a 5-week journey across the Indian Ocean.

Civil war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces has killed an estimated 150,000–400,000 people, displaced 14 million, and created the world's worst hunger crisis.

The Lahaina wildfire completely devastated the historic community on Maui, displacing thousands and killing over 100 people in the deadliest US wildfire in over a century.

Storm Daniel caused catastrophic dam failures in Derna, Libya, sending walls of water through the city and killing thousands in one of the deadliest flood events in modern history.

A devastating 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco's Atlas Mountains region, killing nearly 3,000 people and destroying villages across the mountainous terrain.

A series of powerful earthquakes struck Herat Province, Afghanistan, destroying thousands of homes and displacing tens of thousands of families.

Hamas militants launched a terror attack on Southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,200 people. Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed tens of thousands and displaced 1.7 million.

Category 5 Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco after rapidly intensifying from a tropical storm, causing catastrophic flooding and structural damage affecting over 2 million people.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake devastated remote western Nepal, collapsing homes and killing over 150 people in the mountainous Jajarkot District.

A major 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day — the deadliest earthquake in Japan since 2016, killing hundreds and injuring many more.

Chile's worst disaster in over a decade as severe forest fires devastated the Valparaíso region, burning nearly 64,000 acres and forcing thousands to evacuate.

The Smokehouse Creek Wildfire became Texas' second-largest fire in history, burning hundreds of thousands of acres across the Panhandle.

Extreme flooding in southern Brazil left over 1 million homes without water, tens of thousands evacuated, and vast areas of Rio Grande do Sul submerged.

Major hurricane caused heavy destruction across St. Vincent, Grenada, Jamaica, and surrounding Caribbean islands during the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record.

Storm Boris caused the worst flooding in decades across Central Europe, taking many lives and forcing thousands from their homes in Poland, Czechia, and Austria.

Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm causing billions in damage across multiple states. North Carolina and Florida faced the most severe destruction.

Deadly flooding devastated the Valencia region of Spain in the worst disaster the country has seen in three decades, claiming dozens of lives.

Guatemala's Fuego Volcano erupted, spewing ash and lahar across neighborhoods. Hundreds evacuated with tens of thousands more evacuations expected.

Over a year's worth of rain fell in eight hours on Bahía Blanca, killing 16 people with over 100 missing. Roads, bridges, and infrastructure devastated.

A massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake near Mandalay, followed by a 6.4 aftershock, trapped hundreds in collapsed buildings across Myanmar and Thailand.

Multiple heavy tornadoes struck Missouri and surrounding states, causing severe destruction and fatalities across many communities.

Monsoon season caused extreme rainfall and flash flooding across Pakistan, killing over 930 people and displacing more than 2 million.

Months' worth of rainfall fell in four hours on July 4th, causing catastrophic flash floods along the Guadalupe River devastating Hunt and Kerrville.

Over 350 earthquakes struck Guatemala in two weeks, damaging hundreds of homes and displacing thousands of families across the country.

A 6.0 magnitude shallow earthquake struck Eastern Afghanistan, felt across five countries. Over 1.2 million people were affected by the quake and its five aftershocks.

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake — the strongest ever recorded in Northern Cebu — killed 75 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and triggered thousands of aftershocks.

Remnants of Typhoon Halong struck remote Alaska, causing the most destructive flooding in the region since the 1964 Alaska Earthquake.

Hurricane Melissa was the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica, making landfall on October 28, 2025 with 185 mph winds. At least 88 people were killed across Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, with catastrophic destruction across the region.

A devastating series of severe tropical storms struck Southeast Asia, killing over 1,100 people and displacing millions across Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Extreme rainfall driven by La Niña triggered catastrophic flooding across five South African provinces, killing at least 30 people, displacing tens of thousands, and prompting the government to declare a national disaster on January 18, 2026.

A massive winter storm impacted 20+ states from Texas to New England with heavy snow, catastrophic ice, and dangerously cold temperatures, killing over 100 people and leaving 1 million without power.

Catastrophic floods and landslides struck Brazil's Minas Gerais state in late February 2026, killing 73 people and displacing over 5,500 residents in the deadliest such disaster in Brazil since the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods.

Unseasonable heavy rains have triggered catastrophic flooding across 16 departments in northern Colombia, killing at least 44 people, displacing over 72,000 families, and prompting a national emergency declaration.

A historic bomb cyclone blizzard struck the Northeast with 2–3 feet of snow, near-100 mph wind gusts, and over 600,000 power outages across multiple states.

Extreme winds and drought sparked multiple wildfires across the southern Plains, with the Ranger Road Fire burning 283,000 acres across Oklahoma and Kansas and forcing 11,000+ evacuations.

Persistent heavy rainfall has triggered nationwide floods and landslides across all 24 provinces of Ecuador, killing at least 15 people, damaging more than 28,000 homes, and affecting over 110,000 residents.

Flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall have killed over 160 people across nearly half of Kenya's counties, displacing more than 150,000 and threatening 3.7 million with food insecurity.

Torrential rains from March 15–19, 2026 triggered devastating floods across 29 councils in Malawi, killing at least 40 people and displacing more than 310,000 across the country's southern and central regions.

Multiple wildfires burned over 800,000 acres across western Nebraska, including the Morrill Fire which became the largest wildfire in state history at 642,000 acres.

A major tornado outbreak produced 99 confirmed tornadoes across six states, including the first US EF5 tornado since 2013, killing 12 people and injuring over 144.

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck near Luganville in Sanma Province, damaging schools, hospitals, and bridges and leaving thousands displaced across multiple provinces.

Record-breaking torrential rainfall across southern China has caused catastrophic flooding in Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Hunan provinces, displacing over 110,000 people and submerging cities under unprecedented April floodwaters.

Catastrophic flooding triggered by the heaviest rainfall in over a century has devastated Russia's Dagestan and Chechnya republics, killing at least 6 people, inundating over 6,000 homes, and affecting an estimated 1.5 million residents after a dam breach at the Gedzhukh reservoir.

A prolonged low-pressure system has triggered catastrophic flooding across the Dominican Republic, killing at least four people, forcing over 30,000 to evacuate, and cutting off drinking water for more than a million residents.

Heavy rainfall has triggered deadly floods, landslides, and river overflows across northwestern Haiti, killing at least 12 people, displacing thousands of families, and cutting off entire communities.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the Molucca Sea toppled buildings across North Maluku and Manado, triggered a small tsunami, and displaced nearly 2,000 people.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the Sanriku Coast of Honshu, Japan, triggering tsunami warnings, evacuating over 175,000 people, and prompting a rare megaquake advisory.

A week-long severe weather outbreak spawned over 20 tornadoes across the Midwest, including an EF-3 tornado that leveled homes in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, damaging hundreds of structures across multiple states.

Record-breaking rainfall triggered devastating floods and landslides across Wellington, New Zealand, prompting a state of emergency as hundreds of homes were damaged and thousands displaced.

A deadly multi-day tornado outbreak struck North Texas from April 25–28, killing two people, injuring at least 11, and damaging or destroying over 130 buildings across Wise, Parker, and Palo Pinto counties.

A violent EF-4 tornado — the strongest in the U.S. in 2026 — tore through Enid, Oklahoma on April 23, destroying over 50 homes and damaging Vance Air Force Base, prompting a state of emergency for Garfield and Kay counties.

Historic drought has fueled massive wildfires across southeast Georgia and northeast Florida, destroying over 143 structures, burning more than 40,000 acres, and forcing thousands to evacuate under a state of emergency covering 91 Georgia counties.

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck Liuzhou City in southern China's Guangxi region, collapsing 13 buildings, killing two people, and forcing more than 7,000 residents to evacuate.

Severe pre-monsoon thunderstorms, dust storms, and lightning strikes swept across northern India on May 13, 2026, killing at least 111 people in Uttar Pradesh alone and injuring dozens more across the state's most vulnerable districts.

A severe cut-off low brought catastrophic flooding and storms across six South African provinces beginning May 4, 2026, killing at least 10 people, flooding 26 informal settlements in Cape Town, and triggering a second national disaster declaration within months.

A human-caused wildfire ignited east of Beaver, Utah on June 22, 2026 has exploded to more than 94,000 acres at 0% containment, destroying homes at Eagle Point Resort and forcing evacuations across the Tushar Mountains in what officials say is poised to become the most destructive wildfire in Utah history.

More than 8 inches of rain fell in a few hours on parts of Kentucky on June 27, 2026, triggering flash floods that killed six people and prompted a statewide emergency declaration.

Pakistan's 2026 monsoon killed 180 people, including 82 children, and injured 509 between June 26 and September 3, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, a far milder season than 2025, when 1,037 people died.

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck near Palu in Central Sulawesi on June 16, 2026, killing 1 person, injuring 74 others, damaging more than 1,300 houses, and sending residents fleeing into open areas.

Tropical Storm Jangmi swept through Okinawa, Kyushu, and Wakayama in early June 2026, injuring at least 23 people, cutting power to 60,000 homes, and triggering evacuation orders for more than 400,000 residents.

Typhoon Mekkhala swept across southern Taiwan on June 25 before battering western Japan on June 26–27, 2026, killing two people in Taiwan, forcing mandatory evacuation of 2.2 million people in Japan, and cancelling more than 200 flights across the region.

One of Himachal Pradesh's deadliest monsoon seasons has killed more than 90 people and displaced thousands as cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides tear through the northern Indian state, prompting Prime Minister Modi to announce a ₹1,500 crore relief package on July 6, 2026.