last update: October 2009

ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS

Natural disasters:

Hydrological Disasters 

     
     
 
No. of events
Fatalities
Persons Affected
1980-89
1990-99
2000-09
1980-89
1990-99
2000-09
1980-89
1990-99
2000-09
               
Afghanistan 3 16 44 70 2 629 1 188 191 000
164 355
430 384
Albania 1 4 3 57 15 4 0 46 500 69 884
Algeria 4 8 24 160 118 1 293 8 500 1 200 195 300
American Samoa 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0
Angola 1 0 19 0 0 339 100 000 0 783 328
Anguilla 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Argentina 11 10 18 136 85 68 11 838 000 377 000 682 100
Armenia 0 2 1 0 4 1 0 7 000 0
Australia 10 14 19 71 66 27 0 49 375 26 160
Austria 6 6 6 54 63 26 0 10 000 61 416
Azerbaijan 0 4 2 0 16 11 0 1 577 800 30 000
Bahamas 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bangladesh 16 28 21 7 064 2 944 2 401 122 843 000 57 259 593 58 101 793
Barbados 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Belarus 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 42 000 0
Belgium 2 4 6 0 1 2 0 875 2 610
Belize 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 600 38 000
Benin 3 7 3 61 37 32 913 000 774 901 324 352
Bhutan 0 1 2 0 22 200 0 600 0
Bolivia 7 9 12 304 209 430 378 000 356 000 1 368 485
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 6 0 0 6 0 0 293 130
Botswana 1 1 3 8 20 3 12 000 3 500 112 603
Brazil 27 28 33 1 741 764 976 8 463 335 209 523 3 339 934
Bulgaria 0 1 11 0 0 52 0 200 13 260
Burkina Faso 3 2 6 16 28 58 24 824 67 300 109 140
Burundi 1 0 16 12 0 36 3 600 0 28 965
Cambodia 0 5 8 0 672 455 0 2 613 574 6 644 182
Cameroon 1 3 6 2 32 72 1 000 0 24 500
Canada 5 6 17 3 25 9 4 500 37 900 15 870
Central African Republic 0 5 5 0 7 5 0 37 957 6 000
Chad 2 4 6 43 41 167 47 450 168 849 356 763
Chile 6 5 14 203 300 74 178 482 135 293 641 570
China 46 58 114 14 562 19 173 6 339 139 198 619 967 088 327 480 528 482
China, Hong Kong SAR 8 4 1 30 87 0 2 692 5 560 0
Colombia 15 25 33 1 459 532 1 235 398 800 406 539 4 488 763
Comoros 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 500
Congo 0 3 4 0 2 7 0 76 500 25 000
Costa Rica 2 5 14 8 27 51 11 350 227 372 284 189
Cote d'Ivoire 1 1 3 0 28 33 7 000 0 2 450
Croatia 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 050
Cuba 4 10 6 38 65 4 265 036 671 773 75 775
Czech Republic 0 3 6 0 36 38 0 87 785 204 915
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 1 4 11 0 64 151 148 106 000 26 370
Djibouti 2 2 1 35 145 51 252 000 120 000 98 500
Dominican Republic 3 4 9 32 43 723 1 342 045 20 000 110 965
Ecuador 6 5 11 542 717 234 946 000 246 907 413 665
Egypt 0 5 2 0 624 18 0 110 920 800
El Salvador 4 4 8 565 39 83 89 060 14 950 7 332
Eritrea 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 000
Ethiopia 5 16 24 54 469 1 443 75 240 694 130 1 220 949
Fiji 2 0 7 29 0 26 215 000 0 12 280
Finland 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 400
France 9 13 18 65 94 44 4 300 5 890 53 661
French Guiana 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
French Polynesia 1 2 0 10 13 0 0 500 0
Gabon 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 000 0 0
Gambia 0 2 3 0 53 1 0 31 000 550
Georgia 0 4 4 0 8 1 0 600 3 100
Germany 0 7 6 0 19 29 0 205 200 331 450
Ghana 1 3 6 7 202 77 2 800 2 791 573 531 800
Greece 0 3 14 0 26 15 0 1 900 12 180
Guadeloupe 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guatemala 4 4 14 714 104 264 32 500 9 983 314 374
Guinea 1 1 4 0 0 9 5 000 6 066 246 085
Guinea-Bissau 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0
Guyana 1 1 4 0 0 44 0 28 000 409 774
Haiti 13 4 18 208 44 2 900 167 390 5 040 352 323
Honduras 5 8 9 19 624 106 45 200 724 447 334 275
Hungary 0 4 8 0 8 1 0 131 441 45 814
Iceland 2 2 0 4 34 0 280 63 0
India 43 58 101 13 591 14 504 12 775 152 544 200 278 980 700 234 416 253
Indonesia 36 30 85 1 771 1 013 3 796 1 437 021 2 092 825 3 671 141
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 13 30 22 1 534 1 319 764 1 140 200 887 451 1 412 850
Iraq 0 0 4 0 0 24 0 0 67 890
Ireland 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 3 500 300
Israel 0 2 0 0 15 0 0 1 000 0
Italy 6 8 16 59 248 68 10 000 12 063 58 000
Jamaica 3 2 2 63 24 10 66 000 554 290 30 000
Japan 12 11 10 708 221 113 214 000 64 930 454 628
Jordan 1 2 0 9 10 0 0 18 000 0
Kazakhstan 0 1 5 0 10 49 0 30 000 44 168
Kenya 1 4 28 75 170 541 3 000 900 000 1 171 888
Kiribati 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. 2 6 9 315 276 1 229 20 000 9 019 136 1 203 630
Korea, Republic of 5 10 11 288 783 198 354 984 247 336 337 831
Kuwait 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 200 0
Kyrgyzstan 0 3 7 0 163 90 0 45 000 1 481
Lao People's Dem. Rep. 2 6 4 14 40 23 2 000 1 533 400 1 257 190
Lebanon 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 500 0 17 000
Lesotho 2 1 0 18 22 0 180 000 0 0
Liberia 0 1 2 0 10 1 0 5 000 17 000
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lithuania 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Luxembourg 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Madagascar 1 1 4 0 0 52 28 223 20 000 111 488
Malawi 2 6 15 13 477 91 6 000 417 000 1 159 276
Malaysia 4 6 22 51 101 122 102 576 24 918 358 689
Maldives 1 0 1 0 0 0 300 0 1 649
Mali 2 3 10 18 5 38 14 635 3 784 68 681
Marshall Islands 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 600
Mauritania 2 3 8 0 0 44 9 000 4 208 89 120
Mexico 10 14 23 255 1 243 385 125 000 817 500 1 753 050
Micronesia, Federated States of 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mongolia 1 2 2 0 46 15 0 0 5 500
Montenegro 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 086
Morocco 1 5 11 1 876 216 10 000 98 000 50 350
Mozambique 3 3 15 10 145 1 012 1 000 000 470 000 6 212 111
Myanmar 0 5 8 0 169 119 0 487 795 222 317
Namibia 0 0 9 0 0 148 0 0 474 300
Nepal 13 13 13 1 687 2 765 1 721 621 500 743 065 2 102 432
Netherlands 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 15 000 0
New Zealand 15 7 6 6 0 4 17 007 1 155 6 850
Nicaragua 1 2 7 0 15 56 40 000 206 411 60 045
Niger 1 4 6 20 74 31 80 000 11 606 143 420
Nigeria 3 6 26 130 134 537 6 000 260 000 382 865
Norway 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 4 000 2 100
Pakistan 9 20 39 614 4 375 2 416 302 900 14 581 376 9 487 094
Panama 2 4 14 3 14 66 4 500 21 000 84 849
Papua New Guinea 2 5 11 56 240 85 13 000 104 000 89 256
Paraguay 3 6 1 76 55 0 215 000 430 575 2 765
Peru 20 15 18 2 021 738 227 1 048 500 610 700 658 869
Philippines 20 37 49 867 1 291 2 222 850 791 5 284 292 4 012 039
Poland 3 2 5 0 64 29 19 500 163 700 19 850
Portugal 2 2 5 49 10 9 2 900 3 050 348
Puerto Rico 3 1 3 626 18 4 0 600 11 705
Republic of Moldova 0 3 3 0 56 4 0 28 108 11 000
Romania 1 8 32 0 197 214 2 000 27 418 202 778
Russian Federation 0 19 32 0 460 486 0 1 200 404 872 104
Rwanda 1 0 8 48 0 135 21 628 0 40 795
Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Saint Lucia 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 175 0
Samoa 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Saudi Arabia 1 0 6 32 0 99 0 0 13 450
Senegal 3 3 6 0 0 45 8 000 305 000 259 177
Serbia 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 370
Seychelles 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 1 125 0
Sierra Leone 0 1 3 0 12 30 0 200 000 19 500
Slovakia 0 3 6 0 56 4 0 46 057 330
Slovenia 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Solomon Islands 0 0 2 0 0 10 0 0 7 000
Somalia 4 5 18 39 2 434 140 80 000 1 010 600 711 800
South Africa 3 9 12 635 314 138 65 000 25 100 97 816
Spain 6 4 8 139 100 35 728 600 4 400 6 030
Sri Lanka 10 17 14 483 170 345 1 699 485 1 519 425 3 417 043
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2 1 0 0 3 0 1 142 200 0
Sudan 3 11 12 96 330 222 1 602 000 1 288 006 1 296 791
Suriname 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 0 31 548
Swaziland 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 274 500
Sweden 1 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0
Switzerland 3 3 6 0 33 27 2 000 0 7 381
Syrian Arab Republic 0 0 2 0 0 86 0 0 0
Tajikistan 0 11 21 0 1 723 128 0 311 081 457 558
Thailand 8 18 32 872 527 982 3 564 501 10 499 912 12 813 634
The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 0 1 6 0 0 2 0 1 500 109 750
Timor-Leste 0 0 5 0 0 5 0 0 4 505
Togo 0 5 3 0 3 47 0 215 405 174 615
Trinidad and Tobago 0 2 1 0 5 2 0 200 1 200
Tunisia 2 1 4 140 37 28 30 000 152 000 33 500
Turkey 6 10 19 202 475 196 61 505 1 516 200 76 376
Turkmenistan 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 300 0
Uganda 0 3 14 0 120 139 0 163 000 489 066
Ukraine 0 6 6 0 27 49 0 2 035 000 538 665
United Kingdom 0 8 14 0 17 23 0 1 930 346 930
United Rep. of Tanzania 4 11 10 10 421 137 187 556 357 991 21 248
United States 22 52 54 140 382 303 118 550 642 840 11 308 806
Uruguay 1 3 6 0 1 2 16 000 15 500 120 200
Uzbekistan 0 1 1 0 24 0 0 0 1 500
Vanuatu 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 000
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 6 8 12 260 30 052 160 39 480 452 547 128 421
Viet Nam 4 17 38 385 2 237 2 059 3 466 000 7 249 289 10 221 710
Yemen 0 7 15 0 446 401 0 153 490 28 075
Zambia 1 1 11 0 0 20 800 000 1 300 000 2 398 816
Zimbabwe 0 1 5 0 36 112 0 0 265 000
                   
Sources

EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database (www.emdat.be); Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.

Definitions & Technical notes:

Hydrological disasters are defined as events caused by deviations in the normal water cycle and/or overflow of bodies of water caused by wind set-up. Such events are further classified as: Flood (river flood, flash flood, storm surge/coastal flood), and Wet Mass Movement (rock fall).

Only disasters that fulfil at least one of the below criteria are included in EM-DAT:
- 10 or more people reported killed
- 100 or more people reported affected
- Declaration of a state of emergency
- Call for international assistance

Fatalities are the number of persons confirmed as dead and persons missing and presumed dead (official figures when available).

Persons affected are the number of persons who required immediate assistance during a period of the emergency, including injured persons and persons displaced or evacuated.

A “0” in EM-DAT does not represent a value and can mean either there were no reported events or no information is available.

Data Quality:

The EM-DAT database is compiled from various sources, including UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, insurance companies, research institutes and press agencies. Priority is given to data from UN agencies, governments and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The entries are constantly reviewed for redundancy, inconsistencies and incompleteness. CRED consolidates and updates data on a daily basis. A further check is made at monthly intervals. Revisions are made annually at the end of each calendar year.
 
 
 
United Nations Statistics Division - Environment Statistics