19. Venezuela
> Annual deaths due to natural disaster, 1960-2022: 25.5 per million
> Most common natural disaster: Flood (37 incidents since 1900)
> Deadliest disaster since 1900: December 1999 flash flood (30,000 deaths)
> Total population: 28.7 million
The Vargas tragedy, which struck the Vargas State of Venezuela with flash flood waters and debris, is said to have killed about 10% of the state’s population. Between Dec. 14-16, 1999, nearly 36 inches of rain swamped the region, and that was on top of an earlier storm that poured down 7.9 inches of rain.
18. Burkina Faso
> Annual deaths due to natural disaster, 1960-2022: 26.9 per million
> Most common natural disaster: Epidemic (25 incidents since 1900)
> Deadliest disaster since 1900: February 1996 bacterial disease (4,071 deaths)
> Total population: 21.5 million
The West African country of Burkina Faso resides in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention terms the “meningitis belt,” an area where a number of African countries weather recurrent meningitis epidemics. The dry, windy climate of the land makes it a breeding ground for meningitis.
17. Congo
> Annual deaths due to natural disaster, 1960-2022: 28.0 per million
> Most common natural disaster: Epidemic (19 incidents since 1900)
> Deadliest disaster since 1900: January 2019 viral disease (3,559 deaths)
> Total population: 5.7 million
The ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was first declared in 2018 and persisted until January 2019. UNICEF said it was the country’s 10th ebola epidemic and its worst.
16. India
> Annual deaths due to natural disaster, 1960-2022: 31.0 per million
> Most common natural disaster: Flood (317 incidents since 1900)
> Deadliest disaster since 1900: 1920 bubonic epidemic (2,000,000 deaths)
> Total population: 1.4 billion
The bubonic plague ravaged Europe in the 14th century, but in 1896 the disease devastated the city of Bombay, or modern day Mumbai. Infections are linked to fleas that cling to rodents and infect humans. With better understanding of how the disease spread and by controlling the rat population, the epidemic was brought under control by the early 1920s. But that was after 2 million died.
15. Liberia
> Annual deaths due to natural disaster, 1960-2022: 34.9 per million
> Most common natural disaster: Epidemic (13 incidents since 1900)
> Deadliest disaster since 1900: March 2014 viral disease (4,810 deaths)
> Total population: 5.2 million
The ebola outbreak in Liberia began in March 2014 with the first confirmed cases in the country’s Lofa County. By May and June, the epidemic intensified, leading to 10,672 cases and 4,810 deaths. By May 2015, the epidemic was declared over.
