These Are The Deadliest Natural Disasters In Modern History

Yellow River Flood, 1887

In China, the Yellow River has always been susceptible to flooding due to the elevation of the river, which runs between dikes and above the plains that surround it. In 1887, after days of heavy rain downpours, the water levels reached the dikes and overflowed into the plains.

The flood covered around 50,000 square miles, destroying towns and all of the agriculture in the area. The flood claimed the lives of over 900,000 people, and left 2 million homeless, making it the second deadliest natural disaster ever recorded. Of course, after the flood had subsided, those left alive were then hit by a series of pandemics and famines, claiming even more lives.