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I have lived through six decades already and I don’t remember one that had more disasters, natural and/or man-made than this past one. These ten years were filled with tragedies brought on by mankind and horrific natural catastrophes. Looking back there were so many events to choose from, that my original plan of naming 10 disasters, one for each year had to be abandoned. So now what we have is a list of some of the most notable events in each of the Ten years – making a Decade of Disasters.
2oo1:
Terrorism
Regardless of what other catastrophes occurred during this first year of the 21st century, the only one remembered throughout the world is 9/11, the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon and the hijacked plane which crashed in Pennsylvania. There is no need to elaborate on the details of this man-made horror as they are indelibly engraved on the minds of every person who was age seven or older at that time. The official death toll for that day was 3000 victims and the 19 hijackers.
2002:
Earthquake
March 25th an earthquake with a 6.1 magnitude struck the regions of Nahrin and Baghlian Province in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 1000 people were killed, several hundred more were injured and approximately 20,000 people were left homeless.
Arson- Civil Unrest
In February the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large group of Muslims in the city of Godha, India. 59 Hindu passengers, mostly women and children were burned alive. The incident prompted widespread retaliatory massacres on Muslims resulting in the deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus and 223 missing persons. A total of 523 places of worship were destroyed.
Man-made
The Senegalese government-owned ferry, Le Joola capsized off the coast of The Gambia on September 26th. The disaster resulted in the deaths of at least 1,863 people. The ship was built to accommodate 580 passengers and crew.
2003
Fire
The Columbia Space Shuttle exploded during re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere killing the 7 astronauts – it was the Shuttle’s 28th mission. The tragedy occurred February 1st.
Also in February an arsonist sabotaged a subway train in Doegu, South Korea. 189 passengers were killed, 140 injured.
On February 18th, a fire broke out in a second floor Chicago night club. 21 people were trampled as they tried to escape the flames.
Disease
For several months in the spring of 2003, a virulent outbreak of the SARS virus affected 8,300 people and killed 755, primarily in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Heat Wave
A 3-week heat wave in May, with temperatures rising above 120 degrees killed over 1200 people in India.
2004
Hurricane
Hurricane Charley was the third-named storm and second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It lasted from August 9th to August 15th and at its peak attained 150 mph winds making it a category 4 hurricane. The storm made landfall in southwestern Florida. Charley also assaulted Cuba, the Dry Tortugas. The hurricane traveled north along a northeast corridor of Florida damaging Punta Gorda, Arcadia, Sebring and Zolfo Springs to name a few. Damage to the state totaled over 13 billion dollars.
Earthquake-Tsunami
On December 26th, the day after Christmas, an undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The resulting tsunami known as the Indian Ocean Tsunami or the Boxing Day Tsunami killed over 230,000 people in 14 countries and inundated coastal communities with 100 ft high waves. Indonesia was the hardest hit, followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
2005
Earthquake
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Asia in October killing 73,300 people; 72,000 were in Pakistan.
Hurricane
The photos and TV footage could not begin to convey the scope of the tragedy when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and caused the levees to break. It was the costliest natural disaster as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. Overall the damage was reported to be 135 billion dollars.
2006
Man-made – Human Error
Delta flight 5191 was a U.S. domestic passenger flight from Lexington, KY to Atlanta, GA and crashed upon take-off killing all 47 passengers and 2 of the 3 man crew. The aircraft was assigned Runway 22 but used 26 which was too short for a plane of this size. The sole survivor was the co-pilot who, according to the black box, was piloting the plane at that time.
Natural – Mudslides/Earthquake/Tsunami
In February a combination of continued heavy rains and a minor earthquake caused rock/debris/mudslides causing widespread damage and loss of life. The official death toll stands at 1,126.
In July a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Java and caused a tsunami, both events killed a total 668 people and injured 9,299.
2007
Heat Wave
Approximately 500 people succumbed in Hungary during a week-long heat wave in July. At one point the temperature hit 107 degrees.
Cyclone
The storm formed in the Bay of Bengal reaching 160 mph, landed in Bangladesh on November 15th . The estimates of fatalities varied from one agency to another; Save the Children reported the death toll to be between 5000-10,00.
Floods
After a week of torrential rains, North Korea suffered severe flooding in the southern half of the country and including the Capital. The death toll was reported as 454, 156 missing, 4,351 injured.
2008
Earthquake
Natural disaster struck in the form of 8.0 magnitude earthquake in the Sechuan Province of China killing 69, 197 people, injuring 374,176 and 18,222 listed as missing.
Cyclone
Myanmar suffered catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 dead. The government stopped reporting the death toll after it hit 138,000 to minimize political fall out. Cyclone Nargis was the deadliest named cyclone in the North Indian Ocean Basin.
Cold Wave
The winter of 2008 was the coldest recorded in Afghanistan in 30 years. The temperature dropped to -22 degrees and eventually killed 1300 people.
2009
Disease
Swine Flu was responsible for the lives of over 1000 people in the United States. The 2009 flu pandemic was a global outbreak of a new strain of the H1N1 influenza virus. A state of National Emergency was declared by President Obama once the death toll reached 1000.
2010
Snowstorm
Washington DC and the U.S. Eastern seaboard were paralyzed by a severe snowstorm.
Man-made
In April, a massive explosion aboard an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico caused a catastrophic oil spill killing 11 people and which eventually spread to the coast of Louisiana destroying the fishing industry and killing wildlife by the thousands.
Mine Collapse
In August 33 miners became trapped in a collapsed mine. 17 days later it was discovered that they were alive in a safety chamber. Despite 24/7 rescue efforts, the men were not rescued until October.
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