What extreme weather event in the world killed the most people? Caused the most damage?

Answer 1

In terms of natural disasters there is one that claims far more lives than any other kind - flooding.

The worst ever loss of live occured in China in 1931 when 3.7 million people died in floods brought about by torrential rain. Two other natural disasters have claimed more than a million lives, both of them due to flooding. In 1887 a million people died in China and in 1970 up to 1.1 million died in Bangladesh.

There's one event that can kill far more people than a flood and that's famine. Often the weather plays a part but isn't the only factor. The Ethiopian famine of 1984 claimed 900,000 lives but this was small compared to two of the many famines to have hit China. Here more than 20 million people died in the famines of 1907 and 1969.

In recent years the biggest loss of live caused by the weather was the heatwave of Northern Europe in 2003 which killed an estimated 50,000 people.

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It's hard to say which caused the most damage as it depends how you measure it. Putting a dollar value on it then Hurricane Andrew is the costliest weather related disaster causing 35 billion dollars worth of damage. The Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 (a geological event as opposed to weather), caused 42 billion dollars worth of damage in countries where a dollar is worth a lot of money. Had an event of the same magnitude struck Europe or America the cost could have run into the trillions.

If you want to include asteroids as a weather event then the one that is though to have struck earth 65 million years ago caused the most damage as it not only wiped out the dinosoars but many other species of plant and animal. A similar event today could spell the end of mankind.

Answer 2

According to the Natural Hazards Timeline at http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/hazards/timeline.html, in 1881 300,000 people were killed in a typhoon in China.

Hurricane Katrina caused at least $75 billion US in damages, making it one of the costliest natural disasters of all time. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather).

However at this website it is stated (regarding Hurricane Katrina )

"Preliminary estimate of approximately $125 billion in damage/costs, making this the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history." (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/billionz.html)

During the period between 1980 and 2004, there were 62 events in the U.S. that exceeded a billion dollars in costs and damages. These disasters include storms, droughts, forest fires and flooding. New to the list are the four hurricanes – Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne – that hit the USA (.http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/050131_weather_disasters.html)

Answer 3

The Great Hurricane Oct. 10-16, 1780 Martinique, St. Eustatius, Barbados, Ships 22,000 deaths.
I say this because the others are natural disasters and you asked about deadly weather, Not deadly natural disasters.

Answer 4

The explosion of Mt. Krakatoa in the early 1800s. The particulate matter sent into the atmosphere caused a solar winter.

Answer 5

You might want to check out stats on the 1988 heat wave in the US ... I think that was the most expensive. (most damage?)

Most people dead I believe was in China, but I forget the event (flood?)

Answer 6

Hurricane Katrina and Rita (last year), Hurricane Andrew (1993), the Tsunami (two years ago), i believe were the deadliest.

Answer 7

maybe the tsunami in indonesia a couple years ago?