1996 Flood Archive

Last updated 9:00 PM EST, February 21, 2006 by ERG
1996 Global Register of Major Flood Events - Scroll Down and Look For Links to Maps In The Country Column
DFO #	Country	Detailed Locations	Rivers	Began	Ended	Duration (days)	Dead	Displaced	Damage (USD)	Main cause	Secondary cause	Recurrence Interval (anecdotal)	Severity Class*	Hectares flooded	Hayden Code	Affected Region ( sq km)	Flood Magnitude**	MODIS flood inundation limit file names***	Notes and Comments
98	United States	Oregon, Washington, Idaho	Chehalis, Tualatin, Cowlitz, Skokomish, Willapa, Skookumchuck, Deschutes, White, Nisqually	26-Dec-96	3-Jan-97	9	10	50	$       125,000,000	Rain and snowmelt			1			272,700	11.5		Flooding and mudslides. Tualatin River 3 ft above flood level.  Highest snowfall in 60 years.
97	Malaysia - Tropical Storm Greg	Borneo: Sabah state		26-Dec-96	28-Dec-96	3	200	7,000	$         52,000,000	Heavy Rain			1			73,240	3.0		Tropical Storm Greg. Millions of dollars in losses of infrastructure and agriculture.
96	Spain, Portugal	Southern Spain Provinces: Seville, Cadiz	Tigus, Guadalate	22-Dec-96	26-Dec-96	5	3	1,800	$           4,000,000	Heavy Rain			1			36,920	3.1		1,800 forced from their homes in southern Spain, 2,000 stranded in northern Portugal.  $4 million worth of crops destroyed.
95	France	Southern France: Beziers, Aude, Eastern Pyrenees	Orbe, Rhone	5-Dec-96	10-Dec-96	6		50		Heavy Rain			1			26,320	2.9		Train tracks flooded, cutting off transport between Narbonne and Perpignan. Dozens evacuated by helicopter from Bezier's Bas du Faubourg quarter.  Orbe river rose to 12.4 meters.
94	Venezuela	Costal areas		3-Dec-96	5-Dec-96	3		10,000		Heavy Rain			1			181,900	4.7
93	Greece, Bulgaria	Northern Greece: Thrace, Eastern Macedonia Southern Bulgaria	Kosthinos, Nestos	1-Dec-96	4-Dec-96	4	5	300		Heavy Rain			1	see notes		23,590	2.1		900 buildings flooded.  5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) of farmland flooded, cotton, tobacco and produce destroyed.
92	Albania	Northwest Albania: Lezha area	Drini	19-Nov-96	21-Nov-96	3	0	50		Heavy Rain			1	4,000		1,120	0.4		Dozens of farmers lost homes and livestock. Railways flooded.
91	Dominican Republic - Tropical Storm Marco	Northern Provinces: Santiago, Peurto Plata	Yuna, Yaque	17-Nov-96	23-Nov-96	7	3	3,000		Tropical Cyclone		17	1			6,750	1.6		Tropical Storm Marco.  Major loses of rice and livestock.  Thousands homeless. Highest reservoir levels since Hurricane David in 1979.
90	Haiti	Le Borgne		13-Nov-96	17-Nov-96	5	18	160		Heavy Rain			1			1,040	0.5		40 houses destroyed, 100 more damaged.
89	Egypt	Provinces: Aswan, Sohag, Asyut, Minya, Qena	Nile	13-Nov-96	25-Nov-96	13	23	1,050		Heavy Rain			1			37,940	5.0		Thousands of acres of land flooded.  260 houses destroyed.
88	Iran	Mazandaran province		9-Nov-96	13-Nov-96	5	5	12,000	$         20,000,000	Heavy Rain			1	see notes		16,760	2.1		10,000 houses, 239 development projects, and 4,500 hectares of agricultural land were heavily damaged.
87	Iceland	Vatnajoekull glacier		6-Nov-96	7-Nov-96	2	0		$         12,000,000	Snowmelt	see notes		1			5,680	0.5		Flooding caused by melt waters from a large volcanic eruption under the Vatnajoekull glacier in southeastern Iceland.  Billions of cubic yards of water melted from the glacier during an eruption in October were released. Severe damage to roads and bridges.
86	India	Andhra Pradesh State: East and West Godavari districts		6-Nov-96	10-Nov-96	5	2,500	140,000	$    1,000,000,000	Tropical Cyclone		19	2	742,000		21,450	4.7		Over 742,000 hectares of crops - including rice, coconut and fruit orchards - flooded, amounting to $857 million.  350,000 houses washed away. Worst cyclone since 1977.
85	Somolia	Central Somolia: Jowhar	Shabelle	6-Nov-96	10-Nov-96	5	0	2,000		Heavy Rain			1	2,000		64,920	4.1		Heavy rains in Ethiopian highlands caused the Shabelle River to overflow in Somalia.  1,800 hectares (4,860 acres) of maize, beans, sorghum and rice destroyed.  500 families homeless.
84	Sudan	Bahr el-Ghazal State: Bor, Tonj	Nile	22-Oct-96	26-Oct-96	5	102	8,000		Heavy Rain			1			69,800	4.3
83	India	States: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu (Madras)		21-Oct-96	25-Oct-96	5	326	100,000	$       128,500,000	Heavy Rain			1	see notes		177,500	6.8		1.7 million hectares of crops damaged.  Heavy rains caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal.
82	Indonesia	Java: Central Java Province - Banyumas, Cilacap, Kebumen, capital city Semarang		20-Oct-96	22-Oct-96	3	13	5,000	$             300,000	Heavy Rain			1	see notes		11,940	1.2		4,000 hectares of rice fields and 4,000 of soybeans destroyed.
81	United States	Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania	Muddy	19-Oct-96	23-Oct-96	5	5	700		Heavy Rain		21	2			67,010	8.3		Nor'easter. 320 evacuated in Massachusetts, hundreds in New Jersey.  Multiple rainfall records broken: up to 18 inches.  5 ft of water on some Maine roads.  Worst flooding in Manville, New Jersey in 21 years.
80	Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama - Tropical Storm Lili	Honduras: Provinces - Olancho Costa Rica: Provinces - Guanacaste, San Jose, Puntarenas, Cartago, Limon	Chamelecon, Ulua, Tempisque	14-Oct-96	18-Oct-96	5	11	10,500		Heavy Rain			1			272,800	8.4		Tropical Storm Lili.
79	Mexico	Eastern States: Tampulipas, Durango, Coahuila		6-Oct-96	10-Oct-96	5		9,000		Heavy Rain			1			366,800	9.7
78	Thailand	Central Provinces: Kanchanaburi, Bangkok	Chao Phrya	3-Oct-96	28-Oct-96	26	60			Monsoonal rain			1	18,000		116,500	11.1		Chao Phrya River over 6 ft above sea level
77	Vietnam	Southern Provinces: An Giang, Dong Thap, Tien Giang	Mekong	1-Oct-96	13-Nov-96	44	162	200,000	$         50,000,000	Heavy Rain			1	10,000		22,610	5.7		200,000 homes flooded and 600,000 tons of rice threatened.
76	Bosnia	Central and Northern Regions: Bihac, Odzak	Bosna, Sava	20-Sep-96	24-Sep-96	5	1			Heavy Rain		20	2			24,390	5.0		Worst flooding in decades.  Damage to multiple bridges.
75	China - Typhoon Willie	Provinces: Guangdong (Liezhou Peninsula), Hainan Island	Niandu	20-Sep-96	1-Oct-96	12	38		$       100,000,000	Tropical Cyclone		10	1	155,000		36,470	4.7		Typhoon Willie.  Up to 15 in of rain.  110,000 hectares of rice crop affected, 6,000 hectares of sugarcane toppled, 4,000 hectares of mangos and 35,000 hectares of bananas destroyed. Total agricultural losses reached 581 million yuan (70 million dollars).   300 hectares of shrimp farms inundated totalling 140 million yuan (16.9 million dollars) in losses. Strongest typhoon in Hainan in past 10 yrs.
74	United States	Texas Panhandle: Perryton	Wolf Creek	18-Sep-96	20-Sep-96	3	0			Brief Torrential Rain			1			5,540	0.8		6 inches of rain overnight.  Highway bridge ripped away.
73	Canada - Hurricane Hortense	Nova Scotia: Cape Breton, Halifax, St. Paul's Island, Bedford		15-Sep-96	18-Sep-96	4	0			Tropical Cyclone		21	2			47,110	6.0		Hurricane Hortense. Winds over 100 mph. Over 5.4 inches of rain. First hurricane to hit the region since Blanche in 1975.
72	Mexico - Hurricane Fausto	Baja California: Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, Cabo San Lucas		13-Sep-96	14-Sep-96	2	1	300		Tropical Cyclone			1			9,300	0.7		Hurricane Fausto.  Several hundred evacuated.  Up to 12 inches of rain.
71	Cambodia, Laos	Cambodia Provinces: Phnom Penh, Ratankiri, Kratie, Prey Veng, Kampong Cham, Steung Treng, Pursat, Battambang, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom Laos Provinces: Savannakhet, Champasak, Pakse	Tonie Sap, Mekong, Bassac	27-Sep-96	4-Oct-96	8	46	1,000	$           5,100,000	Monsoonal rain		18	1	120,000		232,600	10.0		Worst floods in Cambodia since 1978.  296,516 acres (120,000 hectares) of rice fields destroyed.
70	Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti - Hurricane Hortense	Puerto Rico: Mayaguez, San Juan, St. Croix, Ponce, Guayama, Loiza, Punta Diamante, Arecibo Dominican Republic: Hispaniola, Samana Peninsula	La Plata	11-Sep-96	19-Sep-96	9	24	10,000	$       155,000,000	Tropical Cyclone			1			11,200	2.3		Hurricane Hortense.  18 inches of rain in Puerto Rico.  Floodwaters up to 5 ft.  $128 million worth of crops lost.
69	Sudan	Khartoum province	Nile	10-Sep-96	15-Sep-96	6	0	800		Heavy Rain			1			10,690	1.9		At least 200 homes destroyed.
68	Nepal	Northern Nepal		6-Sep-96	13-Sep-96	8	20	1,000		Heavy Rain			1			8,000	1.9		Bridge on the Arniko highway, linking Kathmandu to the northern border, was destroyed.
67	United States - Hurricane Fran	Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Washington D.C.	Shenandoah, Potomac, Dan, James, Rappahannock, Nuese	5-Sep-96	13-Sep-96	9	34	4,000	$    2,000,000,000	Tropical Cyclone	Heavy Rain		1			293,700	11.9		Hurricane Fran.
66	Pakistan	Punjab province		2-Sep-96	7-Sep-96	6	119	100,000		Heavy Rain		20	2	400,000		203,000	16.1		3,000 villages inundated - 18,000 houses in 19 districts. 1 million acres of crops damaged. 181 head of cattle killed.  Worst flooding in Punjab in two decades.
65	Sudan	Provinces: Khartoum, Omdurman	Nile	2-Sep-96	6-Sep-96	5	17	4,000		Heavy Rain			1			107,500	5.3		More than 1,000 homes destroyed in the state of Khartoum.
64	North Korea, South Korea	North Korea Provinces: Hwanghae, North Phyongan, Kangwon South Korea Provinces: Kangwon	Amnok	25-Jul-96	30-Aug-96	37	205	535,000	$    2,353,000,000	Heavy Rain			1			100,900	11.5		Up to 800 mm of precipitation.  26,900 head of cattle and poultry killed. 290,000 hectares of crops flooded in North Korea. 3,200 hectares of farmland inundated in South Korea.
63	Bangladesh	Districts: Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Dinajpur, Sherpur	Mahananda, Padma, Ganges	26-Aug-96	7-Sep-96	13	20	100,000		Heavy Rain			1			26,910	4.2		Damage to rice crops.
62	Vietnam	Provinces: Vinh Phu, Lai Chau, Son La, Lao Cai	Red	18-Aug-96	25-Aug-96	8	55	90,000		Monsoonal rain	Dam/Levy, break or release	25	2			84,500	12.1		Dike on the Red River burst north of Hanoi. Railroad lines and highways flooded. Worst flooding in Hanoi since 1971.
61	Ethiopia	Western and Central Ethiopia regions: Gambella, Wondji, East-Shoa, Oromo, Afar	Baro, Guilo, Akobo, Awash	12-Aug-96	30-Aug-96	19		30,000		Heavy Rain	Dam/Levy, break or release	60	2	2,000		468,900	40.3		Thousands of acres of farmland destroyed including fruit, cotton, and 17,290 acres of sugar cane. Wondji floods aggravated by release from the Awash river's Koka dam to prevent it from breaking. Worst floods on Awash river in 60 yrs.
60	Mongolia	Ulan Bator	Tuul, Selbe	9-Aug-96	11-Aug-96	3	6			Heavy Rain			1			4,370	0.7		Destruction to cattle and buildings.
59	Spain	Pyrenees: Huesca Province, Las Nieves campsite	Gallego	7-Aug-96	9-Aug-96	3	85	800		Heavy Rain	Avalanche related		1			3,510	0.7		Flooding and mudslides.
58	Turkey	Istanbul		7-Aug-96	11-Aug-96	5	2	180		Heavy Rain			1			2,205	0.8		45 houses flooded.
57	China - Typhoon Kirk	Provinces: Fujian, Guangdong		6-Aug-96	10-Aug-96	5	266	100,000	$       200,000,000	Heavy Rain		30	2	58,000		138,200	12.0		Typhoon Kirk. Flooded more than 70,000 houses and 58,000 hectares of farmland, and destroyed 15,000 water conservation facilities. Worst flooding in more than 30 years in Shandong.
56	Russia	Far East Provinces: Primorye (Dalnerechensk), Khabarovsk		1-Aug-96	25-Aug-96	25	4	14,000	$       140,000,000	Heavy Rain			1	2,600,000		524,900	23.3		Floods have downed power lines, destroyed nearly 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of crops, inundated around 200 kilometers (125 miles) of roads, damaged 29 bridges, and destroyed 3,444 homes.
55	Philippines - Typhoons Gloring (Gloria) and Huaning (Herb)	Luzon Provinces: Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Bataan		22-Jul-96	3-Aug-96	13	89	40,000	$         53,700,000	Heavy Rain	Dam/Levy, break or release		1			23,200	3.9		Typhoons Gloring (Gloria) and Huaning (Herb). Floodwater up to 4 ft.  $46 million worth of agriculture products and infrastructure projects destroyed by Gloring, $7.7 million in infrastructure destroyed by Huaning.  Over 10,000 families forced to evacuate. A 5.8 earthquake on 7/31 in Pampanga caused a dike in the Gumain River in Dinalupihan to collapse, releasing water from the typhoons and flooding adjacent villiages.
54	China	Guangxi Province: Guigang, Guiping, Pingnan, Tengxian, Cangwu, Wuzhou	Xijiang	19-Jul-96	25-Jul-96	7	0	0		Heavy Rain			1			17,020	2.5		Highest flood peak on xijiang river surpassed without suffering deaths or major economic losses - due to huge flood control efforts (dikes, reservoirs, sandbags) 2 yrs prior.
53	Nepal	Sindhupalchok District: Tatopani	Bhairav Kunda	20-Jul-96	23-Jul-96	4	61	72		Monsoonal rain			1			3,250	0.8		18 houses destroyed by flash flooding.
52	Bangladesh	Central and Southern Districts: Manikganj, Dhaka, Munshiganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur	Brahmaputra, Ganges, Meghna, Buriganga	19-Jul-96	2-Aug-96	15	50	2,300,000	$         15,000,000	Monsoonal rain			1	65,000		69,100	7.1		590,000 families affected, 73,000 houses destroyed and 161,000 damaged.  86,000 acres (34,400 hectares) of crops destroyed and 164,000 acres (65,600 hectares) of farmland affected.
51	Canada	Southern Quebec: Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region	Saguenay, Chicoutimi	19-Jul-96	22-Jul-96	4	10	12,000	$       750,000,000	Heavy rain	Dam/Levy, break or release		1			52,910	3.2		Torrential rains.  1500-2000 houses completely destroyed.
50	United States	Western Pennsylnvania	Ohio	18-Jul-96	21-Jul-96	4	2	115	$         20,000,000	Heavy rain		40	2			53,520	6.4		8 bridges swept away and 22 others submerged.  Over 750 homes damaged and 9 destroyed.  More than 4 inches of rain.
49	Thailand - Typhoons Gloria and Frankie	Northern and Central Provinces: Chumphon, Chiang Rai, Nan, Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Rayong, Ranong		18-Jul-96	21-Aug-96	35	29	343,386	$         13,500,000	Tropical cyclone			1			314,300	19.9		Typhoons Gloria and Frankie.  46 of 76 provinces hit.  6909 hectares of farmland damaged and 1,720 farm animals killed.
48	India	Bihar state: Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Saharsa districts	Gandak, Kosi, Sone, Bagmati, Andhwara	17-Jul-96	10-Aug-96	25	74	4,000,000	$             980,000	Heavy rain			1			171,900	13.3		Affected: 3,634 villages in 18 districts, 5.435 million people.  Damaged: property worth over 32.9 million rupees ( 0.98 million us dollars), 24,330 houses.
47	Liberia	Monrovia		15-Jul-96	18-Jul-96	4				Brief torrential rain			1			18,260	1.9		Flooding over 1 meter deep.
46	India	West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam	Brahmaputra	10-Jul-96	24-Jul-96	15	82	3,000,000	$         85,000,000	Monsoonal rain			1			129,000	9.7		Tens of thousands of hectares of Assam farmland flooded.
45	Iran	Provinces: East and West Azerbaijan		12-Jul-96	16-Jul-96	5	25		$         15,000,000	Heavy rain			1	19,000		101,600	5.1		400 homes and 9,000 hectares of agricultural fields damaged.  2,000 livestock killed.  Unseasonal torrential rain.
44	Indonesia	Northern Sumatra: Band Aceh		5-Jul-96	10-Jul-96	6	0	18,000		Heavy rain			1			10,100	1.8		40-75 cm of flood water.
43	Venezuela	Southern Amazon: Amazona state	Orinoco	1-Jul-96	20-Jul-96	20		15,000		Heavy rain		3000	3			179,100	38.0		Thousands of members of the ancient Yanomami tribe homeless and lacking food.  'We've lived here thousands of years and this never happened,'' Fermin Irayawe, a Yanomami Indian and Upper Orinoco Municipality council member. Floods have submerged one-third of the 184,000-square kilometer (110,000-square mile) state.  Up to 10 meters of water. The normal depth of the Orinoco is 40 meters (132 feet). It has risen to 50.9 meters (168 feet).  Last major flooding was in 1976 when the river rose to 52.2 meters (172 feet).
42	Russia	Siberia: Irkutsk Region		3-Jul-96	7-Jul-96	5		220,000	$             266,000	Heavy rain			1	6,000		614,600	12.6		6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) of crops damaged.
41	China	Provinces: Zhejiang, Anhui	Tianxi, Qingyijiang, Shuiyangjiang	30-Jun-96	8-Jul-96	9	43	271,200	$       450,000,000	Heavy rain		50	2	100,000		236,700	21.4		Zhejiang: 4.51 million people affected, 6,507 villages and 290,000 hectares of farmland flooded. Tianmu: 200 mm of rain in 24 hrs. Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou plain: over 200 mm of rain in 24 hrs. Heaviest rains in 50 yrs, flooding forced closure of Zhejiang's West Lake tourist attraction for the first time in 50 yrs.
40	Bangladesh	Northern and Western Districts: Jamalpur, Sherpur, Khagrachari, Sirajganj, Netrakona, Gaibandha, Rangamati	Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Bhogai, Someswari, Maharashi, Ganges, Dharala	27-Jun-96	9-Jul-96	13	6	72,000		Monsoonal rain			1			59,270	6.2		Rice crops damaged.  16 of 64 districts flooded.  Up to 5 in of rain in one day.
39	India	Rajasthan state	Ruprel, Fanali	10-Jun-96	30-Jun-96	21	63	20,000		Monsoonal rain			1			328,700	17.5		5,000 homes collapsed.
38	Italy	Regions: Toscana, Veneto, Lombardia, Emilia Romagna	Tagliamento, Seveso, Lambro	19-Jun-96	23-Jun-96	5	17	300	$    1,000,000,000	Heavy rain		20	1			66,760	4.2		Heaviest rainstorm since 1966.  Flooding and mudslides.  Hundreds evacuated.
37	China	Provinces: Guizhou, Guangdong (Yanxi, Yanjiang, Daling)	Pearl	17-Jun-96	20-Jun-96	4	100	40,000		Heavy rain			1			233,500	6.7		20 in rainfall in Yangi. 2,000 hectares of farmland flooded.
102	United States - Tropical Storm Alfred	Maryland, Pennsylvania	Patapsco	17-Jun-96	23-Jun-96	7	5	50		Heavy rain		40	2			18,340	5.3		Tropical Storm Alfred - record rainfalls: 2.25 in 6/18 in Pittsburgh, PA, breaking the daily record of 1.56 in set in 1932. 4.65 in 6/18 in Erie, breaking the 1957 daily record of 2.8 in. ''I was born in this house and never have seen anything this bad" - Jesse Springer, 37, Emmitsburg, MD. Dozens in Western MD forced from their homes, hundreds stranded. Up to 13 in of rain.  10.7 in of rain in Gettysburg, PA in 6 hrs.
101	Yemen	Central and Eastern Yemen Provinces: Shabwa, Maarib, Abyan, Hadramut, Al-Jawf		13-Jun-96	25-Jun-96	13	340	37,770	$    1,200,000,000	Heavy rain			2			191,000	22.4		1,274 homes destroyed.  80% of farmland flooded.  Thousands of hectares of crops and thousands of cattle lost.
36	Somalia	Beledweyne	Shabelle	13-Jun-96	14-Jun-96	2	3	400		Heavy rain	Dam/Levy, break or release		1	300		4,530	0.5		Dozens of animals drowned after the nur farah water dam collapsed following 24 hrs of rain.  300 hectares of farm lands growing maize, sesame, sorghum and beans destroyed.  30 km affected.
100	China	Jiangxi province (Fuzhou, Yichun, Ji'an, Yifeng)	Fuhe, Ganjiang	30-May-96	2-Jun-96	4	0	22,800		Heavy rain			1			150,100	5.4		150,000 hectares (370,500 acres) of cultivated land damaged, 5,700 houses to collapsed, and 472 kilometers (295 miles) of highway affected.
35	Ethiopia	Eastern Ethiopia Regions: Afar, Somali	Awash, Wabe Shebele	29-May-96	10-Jun-96	13	40	50,000		Heavy rain			1			355,400	15.3		6 weeks of unusually heavy rains.  4,000 hectares (9,880 acres) of agricultural land destroyed when the Wabi River overflowed.
34	Indonesia	West Java: Kedung Badak, Kebun Pedas	Cipakancilan	16-May-96	20-May-96	5	4			Heavy rain			1			870	0.5
33	Yemen	Western Yemen: Hudayda and Taiz regions		14-May-96	18-May-96	5	7	5,000	$         10,000,000	Heavy rain			1			19,290	2.2		139 houses destroyed and 150 damaged.  Also damage to roads and drainage systems.
32	United States	West Virginia, Kentuckey (Pike County), Ohio	Guyandotte, Big Sandy	13-May-96	20-May-96	8	3	2,500		Heavy rain			1			63,660	5.2		6.5 in of rain.  Guyandotte River crested 6 ft above flood stage. Big Sandy River crested at 13 ft above flood stage. 2500 forced to evacuate in West Virginia.
31	Czech Republic	North Moravia - Bruntal, Lichnov	Vltava, Berounka, Elbe	10-May-96	14-May-96	5	1	60	$         36,000,000	Heavy rain		51	2			9,860	3.2		Worst flooding in Bruntal area since 1945.
30	Australia	Southern Queensland (Brisbane), Northern New South Wales (Grafton)		2-May-96	9-May-96	8	4	120	$         80,000,000	Heavy rain		22	2			330,400	23.9		Most severe flooding in Grafton area since 1974 - 150 mm of rain in one week.
99	United States	Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois	White, Wabash	28-Apr-96	2-May-96	5	6	3,000		Heavy rain		30	2			394,900	20.2		Up to 9 in of rain in 3 days, thousands forced to leave their homes. Indiana: Evansville received a record 7 in of rain in 24 hrs.  Southern Indiana - worst flooding in nearly 30 years. 6 counties declared emergencies.  Wabash River at its highest since 1994.
29	Algeria	Eastern Algeria: Annaba		23-Apr-96	30-Apr-96	8	5			Heavy rain			1			101,900	6.6		Worst flooding was around the port city of Annaba.
28	Brazil	Pernambuco state: Recife	Beberibe, Capibaribe	23-Apr-96	30-Apr-96	8	53	3,000		Heavy rain			1			18,680	2.8		Floods and landslides.
27	Afghanistan	Southwestern, Western, Northern Provinces: Faryab, Faizabad-Badakhshan		9-Apr-96	23-Apr-96	15	115	120,000		Heavy rain	Snowmelt		1			227,000	12.9		7 provinces hit, worst flooding in several years. Faryab was hardest hit: 2,800 houses, 930 acres of agricultural land, 3,350 cattle, 28 flour mills, 12 mosques and 5 schools destroyed.
26	Kenya	Nyanza province: Kano, Lower Nyakach, Karachuonyo, Kisumu district (West Nyakach), Homa Bay district (East Karachuonyo)		8-Apr-96	11-Apr-96	4	0	1,000		Heavy rain			1			12,430	1.5
25	Ukraine	Districts: Luhanska, Rivnenska, Khmelnitska, Belovodski, Starobelski, Swatovski, Markovski, Kremenski, Ivanofrankovsk, Kolomyisky, Snyatovsky	Prypyat, Deikun	10-Apr-96	22-Apr-96	13	0	10,000		Snowmelt			1			592,500	19.7		Over 2,000 homes flooded. Tens of thousands of farm animals evacuated. Melting of winter snowfall that was twice the normal amount.
24	Indonesia	South Sumatra: Ulu Musi district - Lahat Regency (Galang, Tanjung Agung)	Air Betung	27-Mar-96	31-Mar-96	5	20	506	$             430,000	Heavy rain			1			67,730	4.2		14 hrs of torrential rain.
23	Iran	Provinces: Khuzestan, Lorestan, Hamadan (Saveh), Ilam (Abdanan, Shirvan, Qhardaval, Zarin Abad)	Karoun, Khorramabad, Jarahi, Karkhe	28-Mar-96	1-Apr-96	5	22		$           7,930,000	Heavy rain			1	24,000		121,600	5.6		Khuzestan: rain and mudslides, 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres) of farmland damaged and 1,840 farm animals killed. Saveh: 250 livestock killed.
22	Indonesia	Java: Pekalongan District		1-Mar-96	3-Mar-96	3	0	18,584		Heavy rain			1			15,780	1.4		Over 10,000 homes in Pekalongan inundated and 18,584 people evacuated.  Rains caused rivers to overflow their banks.
21	Mozambique - Cyclone Bonita	Central and Southern Provinces: Zambezia, Gaza (Xai Xai, Chokwe), Maputo, Inhambane	Limpopo, Incomati, Pungue, Zambezi, Save, Olifants	13-Feb-96	29-Feb-96	17	11	200,000	$         14,500,000	Tropical Cyclone	Heavy rain		1	100,000		264,700	14.6		Flooding following Cyclone Bonita. 100,000 hectares of crops destroyed, 150,000 cattle left without grazing land. Gaza Province: Limpopo up to 12 kilometres (7.44 miles) wide, over 3000 hectares of crops destroyed in Chibuto County.
20	Brazil	Provinces: Rio de Janeiro (Itaguai, Vidigal, Rio das Pedras, Rocinha, Sao Conrado, Barra da Tijuca, Jacarepagua), Sao Paulo		13-Feb-96	15-Feb-96	3	87	10,000		Heavy rain		100	3			142,900	12.5		Worst rainstorms in Rio de Janeiro's history - 30 cm in 2 days. Flooding and mudslides.
19	South Africa	Provinces: Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Free State, North West, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern	Vaal, Queens, Crocodile, Limpopo, Olifants, Klein Letaba, Mogolo	9-Feb-96	19-Feb-96	11	66	3,000	$           6,860,000	Heavy rain		38	2			582,300	36.6		Thousands homeless and dozens missing.  Olifants River at highest level in 38 years
18	United States	Oregon, Idaho (Counties: Benwah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Nez Perce Indian Reservation), Washington, Montana	Willamette, Columbia	7-Feb-96	13-Feb-96	7	7	24,900	$       500,000,000	Heavy rain	Snowmelt		1			482,600	13.5		Willamette 10 ft above flood stage.  Columbia 11 feet above flood stage. 22,000 evacuated in Oregon, 1,000 in Montana, 7,000 in Washington, 1,200 in Idaho.
17	Indonesia	Jakarta		9-Feb-96	13-Feb-96	5	20	30,000	$       434,800,000	Heavy rain		54	2			1,190	1.1		Rainfall 5 times the normal levels, worst flooding since 1942.  Tens of thousands of people left homeless, 565,000 people affected.
16	Costa Rica	Provinces: Cartago (Turrialba), Limon (Siquirres, Limon), Heredia		7-Feb-96	14-Feb-96	8	9	100,000	$         10,000,000	Heavy rain			1			7,450	1.8		15-20 percent of its banana exports lost. $10 million in damages to houses, roads, and bridges.
15	South Africa	Northern province: Giyani district, Mapayeni Village, Kruger Park	Ritavi	6-Feb-96	10-Feb-96	5	1	100		Heavy rain			1			5,000	1.1
14	Mozambique	Province: Gaza (Chokwe)	Incomati, Limpopo	27-Jan-96	29-Jan-96	3				Heavy rain			1			12,620	1.2		100 mm of rain for 3 days.
13	France	Languedoc-Roussillon Province - Herault region: Beziers, Puisserguier, Cassenon, Agde, Serignan, Puissalicon, Magalas	Orb, Libron, Herault	27-Jan-96	30-Jan-96	4	4	600	$           6,000,000	Heavy rain			1			2,140	0.6		$6 million in damage to roads, schools, and buildings - not including private property.
12	South Africa	Durban, Ladysmith, Tokoza	Klip	24-Jan-96	27-Jan-96	4	4	1,200		Heavy rain		9	1			91,480	4.2		Wettest summer since 1987. 300 homes evacuated in Ladysmith.
11	Morocco	South: Provinces - Essaouira, Azilal, Settat, Taroudant; Region - Chichaoua. North: Provinces - Tangiers, Chefchaouen, Kenitra; Region - Gharb. Center: Provinces - Khemisset, Sidi Kacem, Safi; Region - Casablanca.	Lihoud	21-Jan-96	1-Feb-96	12	23	2,400		Heavy rain			1	172,800		280,200	13.2		Region of Gharb: 90,000 hectares (222,000 acres) of agricultural land under water, 600 families homeless. El Jadida province: 3,550 hectares of crops submerged.  Tetouan province: 17,000 hectares of crops damaged. Sidi Kacem province: 26,000 hectares of farmland flooded. Kenitra province: 36,250 hectares of farmland submerged. Several rivers flooded.
10	Canada	Chateauguay, Quebec (town of Hinchinbrooke)	Chateauguay	19-Jan-96	25-Jan-96	7	0	12,000		Ice jam/break-up			1			1,270	0.7		Record snowfalls in late November and early December followed by unseasonably warm temperatures and rain.
9	Zimbabwe	Gokwe, Musampakaruma	Gunguwe	16-Jan-96	22-Jan-96	7	0			Heavy rain		45	2			18,900	5.4		Rainfall up to 150 millimeters in 24 hrs in some areas.  Crops, huts, roads, and livestock lost.
8	United States	New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey	Ohio, Delaware, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Allegheny, Monongahela, Neversink, Conhocton, Canisteo	15-Jan-96	21-Jan-96	7	35	200,000	$       532,000,000	Snowmelt	Heavy rain	24	1			136,100	7.2		Record snowfall 1/7 and 1/12 followed by rapid melting and rains.  Damage to over 50,000 homes, 28 sewage treatment plants.  In hardest hit areas of PA, worst flooding since Hurricane Agnes 1972
7	Panama	Regions: Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui, Panama, Cocle		14-Jan-96	16-Jan-96	3	6			Heavy rain			1			31,010	1.9
6	Mozambique	Maputo province	Maputo	12-Jan-96	15-Jan-96	4	0	5,000		Heavy rain			1	see notes		9,870	1.4		400 hectares of crops flooded.
5	Philippines	Mindanao: Surigao del Sur province (San Miguel)		6-Jan-96	12-Jan-96	7	0	2,000	see notes	Heavy rain			1			4,870	1.4		Millions of pesos of crops and infrastructure destroyed.
4	Indonesia	Jakarta	Ciliwung	6-Jan-96	9-Jan-96	4	10	28,000		Heavy rain		20	1	5,000		1,175	0.5		Floodwaters up to 7 meters.
3	Brazil	Central and Southern Brazil: Sao Paulo, Sao Jose dos Campos, Rio de Janeiro, Bauru, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul	Tiete	25-Dec-95	8-Jan-96	15	100	30,000		Heavy rain			1			1,408,000	32.1		Floods and landslides.
2	Romania	North: Transylvania, Moldova, Maramures, Cluj, Neamt Central: Mures, Alba, Hunedoara, Bacau South: Arad	Bistritza, Aries, Somesh, Cris	28-Dec-95	7-Jan-96	11	2	19,000	$         12,000,000	Heavy rain	Snowmelt	25	2	70,000		187,000	20.7		Heaviest snowfall since 1970 followed by melting and rain.  170,000 acres of farmland flooded, also 220 villiages and 300 miles of road.  Property damage and losses  exceeding those of the 1970 flood disaster in Romania.  4,000 houses in northwestern Romania washed away, thousands in southern Romania taken to safer areas.  75% of the country affected.
1	South Africa	Kwazulu Natal province - Pietermaritzburg	Msunduze, Slangspruit	25-Dec-95	2-Jan-96	9	157	2,000	$       600,000,000	Heavy rain			1			26,830	3.6		70 mm of rain in less than 30 min on 12/25. Entire squatter camps washed out.
		Yearly Totals or Averages:				9	6210	12,798,803	$   12,198,866,000					4,673,100		13,295,550
An archive number is assigned to any flood that appears to be "large": significant damage to structures or agriculture, long intervals since the last similar event, and/or fatalities
*Severity Class
Class 1: large flood events: significant damage to structures or agriculture; fatalities; and/or 1-2 decades-long reported interval since the last similar event.
Class 2: very large events: greater than 20 yr but less than 100 year recurrence interval, and/or a local recurrence interval of at 10-20 yr.
Class 3: Extreme events: with an estimated recurrence interval greater than 100 years
**Flood Magnitude = ln(duration) * severity class * sqrt(affected region)/100 {if duration=1, then duration is set at 1.1 for this calculation.}
*** Available on request
Dartmouth Flood Observatory Homepage
		Causes
	1	Heavy rain
	2	Tropical cyclone
	3	Extra-tropical cyclone
	4	Monsoonal rain
	5	Snowmelt
	6	Rain and snowmelt
	7	Ice jam/break-up
	8	Dam/Levy, break or release
	9	Brief torrential rain
	10	Tidal surge
	11	Avalanche related