Skip to main content

Five Most Extreme Hydrologic Events that changed the World

Typhoon Tip, Philipines(Collected from : CSMonitor)


Devastating storms, severe flood, acute famine conditions, etc. hydrological events of extreme nature has changed human history. Any event which is not normal is known as an abnormal event. In the case of hydrology, an event that has a return period of more than 100 years is considered Extreme.

According to Herring(2020) of Climate.gov, "An extreme event is a time and place in which weather, climate, or environmental conditions—such as temperature, precipitation, drought, or flooding—rank above a threshold value near the upper or lower ends of the range of historical measurements."

Though the threshold is not objective, few researchers have defined "extreme events as those that occur in the highest or lowest 5% or 10% of historical measurements". Some have described events by their deviation from the mean, or by their occurrence interval.  

Here the most severe five extreme hydrologic events were discussed which has changed the pathway of human history after the occurrence of these events. The impact of such events was experienced many decades after the event has occurred.

How have I  selected the events?

At the time of selection, we have considered the death toll due to the event, return period, and impact on the future generation as the criteria. The decision-making tool "ODM" was used to find and sort the events as per their severity and placed them below:

1) Typhoon Tip, Philippines

 The strongest tropical cyclone recorded worldwide, as measured by minimum central pressure, was Typhoon Tip, which reached a pressure of 870 hPa (25.69 inHg) on October 12, 1979.

 2) 1999 Odisha cyclone. India

The 1999 Odisha cyclone (IMD designation BOB 06,[1] JTWC designation 05B[3]) was the most intense recorded tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region which occurred on 29th October 1999 when the winds of 260 km/h (160 mph) and a record-low pressure of 912 mbar (hPa; 26.93 inHg) was observed in the Bhubaneswar and various places in Odissa. The storms dissipated on 4 November over the Bay of Bengal. Not only Bhubaneswar, but a complete breakdown of essential services was also observed in Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Khurda, Puri, Mayurbhanj, and Nayagarh. The entire green cover of the Bhubaneswar city was destroyed in one night. In total, 12.9 million people were affected by the storm; and around 9,887(approx) were killed

3) 1931 China floods

The 1931 China floods, or the 1931 Yangtze–Huai River floods, were a series of floods that occurred from June to August 1931 in China, hitting major cities such as Wuhan, Nanjing, and beyond, which eventually culminated into a dike breach along Lake Gaoyou on 25 August 1931.

4) 1987, the Bihar Flood, India

In 1987, the Bihar state of India witnessed one of its worst floods till then. The flood occurred due to the overflow of the Koshi river; which claimed the lives of 1,399 humans, 302 animals and public property worth INR ₹68 billion (US$900 million). After this flood Koshi changed his flow path.

5) Drought in China and India 1876-79

The most severe drought was in northern China in 1876-79, when between 9 and 13 million people are estimated to have died after the rains failed for three consecutive years. At around the same time (1876-78), approximately 5 million Indians died when the monsoon failed in successive years.


Signing off
Mrinmoy


Founding and Honorary Editor HydroData 
Subscribe to Newsletter

Promoted Products: 
Publish your book with EIS Publishers
 "Ashwagandha and Other Products for Enhancing Immunity".. Nutrilite(Use 13238584 as ABO ID)
Procure Hydrology Themed T-Shirts from Innovate S

Popular posts from this blog

Five open source free hydrologic models that you can use to model runoff of micro to macro watersheds

The principal objective of hydrologic models is to forecast the runoff of a surface water body, especially dendritic systems like rivers, streams, etc. The inputs to these models are generally Rainfall/Precipitation, Soil Characteristics, and other Climatic parameters like evapotranspiration, humidity, etc. LULC and geo-morphology are also used as the required input parameters of the hydrologic models. Both input and output of these models are temporally as well as spatially variable. Now the resolution varies with different models. Some models consider all the sub-basins to be a single watershed and determine the output based on the characteristics of this single watershed(lumped).In contrast, some other models will consider the {impact|effect} of each of the sub-basins on the central outflow of the watershed(distributed).In a few models, the entire watershed is divided into grids or units of uniform dimension. However, the accuracy is highest for the models, which considers the {impa...

Five new patents that has the capbility to change the future of water resource development

A complex web of extreme events, such as devastating floods in some areas and severe water scarcity in others, are increasingly characterizing the global water crisis. This situation is made worse by the sneaky contamination of water sources with "forever chemicals" that do not decompose in the environment. A complex issue necessitating immediate action to guarantee access to clean, safe water for all populations is created by this pollution and the considerable water loss that occurs during delivery to customers as a result of aging infrastructure. Climate change is causing an increase in extreme events like floods and droughts, leading to unpredictable water availability. Water scarcity is also increasing, especially in areas with high population density and agricultural demands. Persistent organic pollutants like PFAS are contaminating water supplies, posing health risks due to their non-biodegradability. Inefficient infrastructure and leaky pipes contribute to significant...

How to separate baseflow from Total Storm Runoff ?

In hydrological studies, baseflow separation plays a crucial role in understanding the dynamics of water movement within a watershed. It allows researchers to identify the portion of streamflow that is sustained by groundwater discharge, which is important for assessing the availability and sustainability of water resources. Additionally, baseflow separation helps in determining the contribution of groundwater to streamflow during dry periods or droughts, providing valuable insights for water allocation and planning purposes.  Click here to access the tutorial : https://youtu.be/yvjm5YAc8H4 You may also like : HydroGeek: The newsletter for researchers of water resources https://hydrogeek.substack.com/ Baipatra VSC: Enroll for online courses for Free http://baipatra.ws Energy in Style: Participate in Online Internships for Free http://energyinstyle.website Innovate S: Online Shop for Water Researchers https://baipatra.stores.instamojo.com/ Call for Paper: International Journal of H...