Collections: Learning from past disasters

From Haiti to China, a look back at some of the forgotten disasters that struck in 2021.

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 Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States and is widely remembered as one of the country's most consequential disasters.

In May 2016, a wildfire swept through Fort McMurray, Alberta, ruining thousands of homes and buildings, and causing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

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.

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall near Beira City, Mozambique on 14 March 2019, bringing strong winds and severe flooding in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar.