Certain meteorological phenomena conclude with dramatic figures. What are the meteorological phenomena that have claimed the most lives since 1873? The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has just published a list of the most tragic.
1. Rays, directly
A single lightning bolt killed 21 people in just seconds. It happened on December 23, 1975 when a group of people were in a shack in western Zimbabwe. Many of the huts in this area are built with tin roofs and also lack lightning rods.
2. Rays, indirectly
Lightning set fire to three oil storage tanks, each with 5,000 tons of capacity. The fire caused some damage and rapid flooding. The tanks were next to train tracks that collapsed due to flooding. Burning floating oil joined the rivers, which carried the fire to the town. Almost 500 people died. It happened on November 2, 1994 in which several electrical storms affected Dronka (southern Egypt).
3. The worst tropical cyclone
On November 12 and 13, 1970, a tropical cyclone, known as El Bhola, devastated Bangladesh (South Asia) directly causing 300,000 deaths, although it is estimated that the deaths could even reach 500,000.
4. The deadliest tornado
A tornado was the protagonist in this case. The storm, with a diameter of 1.6 kilometers, was moving rapidly, tearing everything in its path from the ground. It happened on April 26, 1989 in the Manikganj district of Bangladesh. The tornado destroyed two cities and left 80,000 people homeless. The balance was 1,300 victims and more than 12,000 injured.
5. The most violent hailstorm
On April 30, 1888, a hailstorm near Moradabad, northern India, left 246 fatalities. The hail was the size of an orange, resulting in the death of more than 1,600 farm animals due to the animals colliding with these boulders. As if this were not enough, the hailstorm took the lives of the attendees of more than one wedding celebration in the field since it was a public holiday.
The weather, therefore, can be at the same time fantastic, surprising and extreme and dramatic.
Source: Eltiempo.es
