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Hurricanes/Cyclones/Floods

E very year virtually hundreds of storms inflict unimaginable damage. The cost of such disasters can measure in the billions of dollars. Even worse is the human toll of these catastrophic events. The following list identifies the most devastating storms of the 20th century in terms of casualties.

July-August 1931 - Massive flooding of China's Yangtze River led to more than three million deaths from drowning, disease and starvation.

Nov. 13, 1970 - A cyclone in the Ganges Delta killed at least 300,000 in Bangladesh.

August 1971 - An estimated 100,000 died when heavy rains led to severe flooding around Hanoi in what was then North Vietnam.

Aug. 5, 1975 - At least 85.000 were killed along the Yangtze River in China when more than 60 dams failed following a series of storms, causing widespread flooding and famine. This disaster was kept secret by the Chinese government for 20 years.

July 1, 1991 - Cyclones triggered flooding in Bangladesh that killed 138,000.

Oct. 26 - Nov. 4, 1998 - Hurricane Mitch was the deadliest hurricane to hit the Americas. It killed 11,000 in Honduras and Nicaragua and left 2.5 million homeless.