Nature is both beautiful and devastating; Mother Nature could wipe us off the planet in a matter of minutes. While all storms are disastrous in some capacity, these in particular are truly remarkable. Scroll down to check out some of the most calamitous and extraordinary storms in the last century:
2013 Super typhoon “Typhoon Haiyan”
This extraordinary November storm went down in the record books as the strongest storm to ever make landfall. Named “Typhoon Haiyan,” this Philippine storm clocked winds of 235 miles per hour and completely devastated portions of southeast Asia.
According to reports, bodies were still being found over one year after the storm. The storm left with a death toll over 10,000 and approximately $3.86 billion in damage.
2013 El Reno Oklahoma tornado
At 2.6 miles across, this colossal storm was the widest tornado ever recorded. The F5 tornado touched down on May 31 in El Reno, Oklahoma with 295 mph winds.
Due to the erratic nature of the storm, the tornado claimed the lives of 4 storm chasers — the (surprising) first ever deaths of storm chasers. The tornado occurred mainly over open fields and didn’t hit any metropolitan areas, so despite its immense size the death toll was only 8.
1970 Bhola cyclone
This immense storm struck East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) and India’s West Bengal on November 12, 1970. Winds gusted to 185 mph, and the accompanying storm surge flooded low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta.
This storm surge completely wiped out villages and destroyed crops, and one area — Upazila, Tazumuddin — lost 45% of its entire population. Five hundred thousands lives were lost and a whopping $86 million in damage resulted.
1993 Storm of the Century
Also known as the “’93 Super Storm” and the “Great Blizzard of 1993,” this monster storm stretched from Canada to Central America.
States as far south as George and Florida were covered with snow, hurricane-force wind gusts produced dramatic storm surges along the coast, and multiple tornado outbreaks devastated the East Coast. Altogether, the storm took 318 lives and left behind $8.7 billion in damage.
1991 Bangladesh cyclone
The 1991 supercyclonic storm was one of the deadliest cyclones ever recorded. The storm hit southeastern Bangladesh on April 29 with winds of 155 mph.
Like the Bhola cyclone, the main cause of death was the horrific 20 foot storm surge. In total, the storm cost $1.7 billion in damages and left 138,000 people dead.
1975 Typhoon Nina
Category 4 storm Typhoon Nina hit Taiwan and mainland China in August of 1975. Winds exceeding 155 mph and rainfall of 64 inches resulted in the catastrophic collapse the Banqiao Dam.
The dam collapse itself claimed 171,000 lives — the most in recorded history. In total, 229,000 people were killed and $1.2 billion in damage resulted.
