Collections: Learning from past disasters

Tropical Cyclone (TC) Gita formed in early February 2018 and developed into a category 4 cyclone, affecting multiple countries in the Pacific region. Tonga was hardest-hit, incurring severe damage.

A massive landslide devastated the commu­nity of Barangay Guinsaugon, Municipality of St. Bernard, Southern Leyte Province, Philip­pines, at about 10:30 local time on 17 February 2006.

The Nevado del Ruiz Volcanic Eruption, also known as the Armero Tragedy, is considered as Colombia’s worst natural hazard-induced disaster which produced the deadliest lahar ever recorded. After 69 years of dormancy, the stratovolcano in Tolima, Colombia erupted in 13 November 1985 melting the mountain’s glaciers and sending lahars down its slopes at 60 kilometers per hour.

Hurricane Florence triggered intense destruction in the American states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, with losses of several billion dollars.

In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and generated three meltdowns, marking the biggest nuclear incident since the Chernobyl Disaster.

The 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season proved to be unprecedented in many ways. Beginning before the official arrival of spring, in June, and worsening significantly from Sept. 2019 on to mid-January 2020.

In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) devastated the Philippines, killing thousands and yielding unprecedented wreckage.

Hurricane Harvey yielded extensive damage across the Southern United States, especially Texas.