Jan. 5, 2000 Pounding rains continued to drench a huge swath of South America on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the storms in Brazil to at least 26 people. The rains have flooded communities, swept away bridges, and left thousands homeless in southeastern Brazil just weeks after devastating floods killed tens of thousands in the neighboring country of Venezuela. The rain in Brazil was predicted to continue through the end of the week.
January 4, 2000 - Mudslides and floods triggered by driving rains left more than 1 million Colombians homeless in 1999. Between 250 and 305 people were killed in the floods and almost daily avalanches of mud and rock.
Up to 180 of the deaths occurred in the last four months of the year, when the country's unusually harsh weather hit with a vengeance.
January 3, 2000 - Meteorologists are forecasting up to a month of further rains in Venezuela. Authorities forced hundredsof people to leave their homes in slum settlements of Caracas, warning that more lives could be lost in landslidescaused by continued heavy rains. As many as 50,000 people were killed and about 400,000 made homeless last month when flash floods and mudslides struck the South American country's Caribbean coast, burying entire towns under tons of earth and rocks. Roughly one in six of the capital's roughly six million inhabitants live in areas considered to be geologically risky
Dec. 17, 1999 In Bosnia rising water levels in the Neretva River had caused the waterway to burst its banks in several places, destroying two bridges and flooding nearby homes.
Dec. 17, 1999 At least four people were left dead and 15 others injured when powerful winds and torrential rains unleashed mudslides in southern Italy on Thursday. A number of rivers broke their banks in the pounding rains, and several victims were killed as they tried to flee the ensuing mudslides that threatened their homes.
Dec. 16, 1999 At least six people were killed and hundreds of others left homeless in Indonesia by flooding that hit communities in the province of East Kalimantan on Tuesday. The inundation followed days of torrential rains that caused the Bangalon River to burst its banks.
Dec. 16, 1999 At least 137 people in northern Venezuela were killed when mudslides triggered by torrential rains hit. Many of the victims drowned in raging rivers. Others were buried alive by mudslides that engulfed their homes. Authorities expressed fear that the number of victims would rise even further as many disaster relief workers had been unable to reach areas that were cut off due to blocked highways.
Dec. 10, 1999 At least 58 people were buried alive under 35 feet of mud when landslides struck the Indonesian city of Padang, in Indonesia's West Sumatra Province. Further landslides are expected during the rainy season.
THAILAND - Dec. 7, 1999 A young boy was killed and hundreds of people in southern Thailand were evacuated from their homes on Monday when pounding rains triggered flash flooding. The storm swept ashore last Saturday night, inundating buildings and leaving parts of the provinces of Yala, Songkla, Pattani, Narathivbas and Chumporn under three feet (one meter) of floodwater. Large areas of cropland remained under water and many roads were blocked by landslides. Although weather conditions cleared somewhat on Monday, meteorologists issued warnings of continued flooding.
YEMENI ISLAND - Dec. 7, 1999 Torrential rains, which have pounded the Yemeni island of Soqotra for four days, continued to lash the area on Monday, destroying at least 350 homes and cutting off power and water supplies. The island, which is located in the Indian Ocean about 311 miles (501 km) from the southwest tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is known for its rare birds and vegetation. It is the largest island of the four-island Soqotran Archipelago.
VIETNAM -Dec.6, 1999 - At least 114 people were killed by flash flooding late last week that followed four days of pounding rain in central Vietnam. Officials expected the number of casualties to rise over the next several days as meteorologists predicted even more rain for the region. Some communities were swamped by 5 1/2 feet of water.
Parts of the country are still struggling to recover from massive devastating floods during November that killed 592 people.
RUSSIA - Dec. 1, 1999 Russia's historic Hermitage Museum in the city of St. Petersburg was struck by floods on Tuesday when the Neva River rose almost nine feet after a heavy rain the previous night. The flooding was the worst to hit the city in at least 13 years.
CONGO - Dec. 1, 1999 Torrential rains have caused the Congo, the world's second largest river, to break its banks and begin flooding cities in what disaster officials are calling the "flood of the century." The onset of seasonal rains began earlier than usual and could continue until January. Meteorologists predicted that they may be heavier than those responsible for disastrous inundations during 1903 and 1961-62.
OREGON - Nov. 28, 1999 Many Thanksgiving holiday travelers were left stranded in Oregon last weekend after the state's northern coast was slammed by overflowing rivers and mudslides triggered by heavy rains.
During the past week, nearly 10 inches (25 cm) of rain fell in the coastal city of Tillamook, located about 60 miles (97 km) west of Portland. Tillamook and Lincoln County were virtually cut off from the rest of the state after a number of highways had to be closed. U.S. 101, the coast highway, was closed north of Tillamook due to flooding and mudslides.
NEW ZEALAND - Nov. 19, 1999 Hundreds of residents were evacuated from New Zealand's South Island and a state of emergency declared in tourist areas after three days of torrential rains caused rivers and lakes to flood.
BRAZIL - Nov. 18, 1999 At least one man was killed and 25 others left missing when an entire 328-foot hill by northern Brazil's port of Manaus crumbled under the weight of days of rain, and slid into the Rio Negro. Numerous boats and cars, as well as one home, were instantly buried in the slide. The missing are presumed dead after being buried beneath the mass of earth and rock. Scores of dock workers on the riverbank who were preparing to embark in small boats were also injured.
FRANCE - November 13, 1999 - Severe floods in southern France have killed at least 26 people.
Across the Aude, Tarn and Pyrenees Orientales regions, helicopters, divers and firemen took corpses and survivors from houses, sewers and cars stuck in trees. Officials said two people were still missing on Sunday afternoon and that the death toll could go higher. Residents said in some areas the floods -- which destroyed roads, railways, bridges, power cables and drinking water supplies after torrential rains began sweeping the region on Friday -- were the worst in more than 50 years.
NIGERIA - November 11, 1999 - The worst floods in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta for at least 30 years have left tens of thousands homeless and without food.
Nov. 9, 1999 GREECE - One woman was drowned in her home and thousands of other homes were flooded in southern Greece on Monday as storms swept through the region. Much of the flooding occurred in the same part of the country that was devastated by a powerful earthquake two months ago. Storms are expected to intensify.
Nov. 8, 1999 - PERU -A second avalanche rushed down on a remote town in Peru's northern Andes on Monday, a day after a similar slide left at least 46 people missing. The landslides in La Pucara, 400 miles northwest of Lima, were apparently caused by heavy rains filtering through the soil and coming into contact with superheated, sulfurous thermal springs underground, said Dr. Hernando Tavera, a seismologist with Peru's Geophysical Institute. That triggered explosions of steam, which pushed the water up through cracks in the mountainside and loosened topsoil. No one was hurt in the second landslide because residents had already been evacuated after Sunday's avalanche.
Nov. 8, 1999 High tides caused by a storm sweeping across Italy caused at least one death and inundated Venice's famed St. Mark's Square
COLUMBIA - Nov. 4, 1999 Incessant rains over the past several weeks have killed 57 people and left at least 355,000 others homeless. Meteorologists have predicted that the rains will continue until mid-December, and disaster officials have issued warnings of impending floods to those living close to rivers.
VIETNAM - Nov. 4, 1999 At least 223 Vietnamese are dead in what could be the country's worst flooding in 45 years. The floods were triggered by a week of cloudbursts that have dumped at least three feet of rain in the heart of the country. The death toll was expected to rise even further as reports begin to come in from areas where communications have been down. Thousands of homes were submerged by the floodwaters and authorities have been forced to suspend air, rail, river and road transportation. Highways linking the major cities of Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City have been cut off in numerous areas. Six trains en route between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been trapped by the floodwaters. The Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh was hit by its worst flooding in a decade on Wednesday, causing thousands of residents to flee from their homes.
SOUTH AFRICA - Oct. 27, 1999 At least three people were drowned and hundreds of others left homeless in the province of KwaZulu-Natal bordering the Indian Ocean. Torrential rains triggered the deadly flash flooding.
NIGERIA - October 26, 1999 - At least 50 people have died in flooding in southeast Nigeria. The floods around the town of Oguta on the bank of the Niger River were still rising and many people were trapped in the area.
VIETNAM - October 26, 1999 - Fresh floods triggered by heavy rain in the central province of Quang Binh killed nine people and destroyed thousands of homes. 34,427 houses in Quang Binh had collapsed, while 12,000 acres of vegetable and sugarcane plantations had been damaged in the floods in the past few days.
CONGO - Oct. 25, 1999 Several months of unusually heavy rainfall have forced floods leaving tens of thousands of people homeless in the north of the Congo Republic. Flooding in the central and western regions of Cuvette has affected at least 40,000 people in 30 communities.
NEPAL - Oct. 25, 1999 Landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed 10 people and injured seven others. Officials fear the toll could rise further as reports from outlying districts come in.
COLUMBIA - Flash floods swept tons of rocks and mud through a shantytown killing at least 15 people and leaving up to 100 others missing. At least 50,000 people were left homeless and rivers threatened to burst their banks as unusually heavy rains lashed Colombia.
NIGERIA - Sept. 30, 1999 At least 39 people were drowned and thousands of others left homelesswhen ongoing pounding rains forced the opening of the sluice gates of three hydroelectric dams.
More than 200 communities were washed away or inundated by the rising floodwaters. Many of the stricken areas were in remote regions where warnings of the impending flood danger could not be transmitted.
The floodgates were opened last week after a continuous buildup of water from the heaviest rains in three decades threatened to burst the dams' walls.
Sept. 27, 1999 - CENTRAL AMERICA - More than 100,000 HONDURAN residents were evacuated as officials struggled to save El Cajon dam, the country's largest hydroelectric facility, which has threatened to burst from the force of the water gathering behind it.
Floodgates were opened late last Friday in an attempt to alleviate the mounting pressure caused by two weeks of incessant rainfall upstream. More than 30 times the normal flow of water was sent gushing into the region's rivers and creeks.
At least 13 people have been killed, and millions of dollars' worth of homes and cropland destroyed in the continuing flooding crisis in Honduras. Five people remain missing. Weather officials estimated that a total of six inches (152 mm) of additional rain fell over the weekend.
EL SALVADOR, five people have been killed in flooding, the continuing rains threatened to overwhelm a hydroelectric dam in that country as well.
NICARAGUA, the incessant rainfall caused waters surrounding Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua to rise to threatening levels. Residents of the island were forced to flee up the slopes of the Maderas Volcano as their homes were being inundated.
A man was killed in southeastern GUATEMALA when he was swept away by the raging floodwaters. Residents of several communities along the river have been evacuated.
Another man was also drowned in COSTA RICA last week. At least 35 riverside communities in that province have been flooded.
INDIA - Sept. 27, 1999 At least 12 people in India's eastern state of West Bengal were killed when torrential rains pounded the region. All of the victims were killed as the storms leveled their homes.
More heavy downpours flooding U.S., data shows.
MEXICO - Sept. 21, 1999 The death toll from a week of torrential rains has climbed to 14 in Mexico. Landslides have blocked coastal highways and closed bridges in southern Mexico, and 14,800 acres of farmland in Oaxaca have been damaged by flooding.
MAURITANIA & NIGER appealed for international assisantance after freak floods swept away crops and left thousands homeless in the mainly desert western African states.
GHANA - Sept. 14, 1999 At least 9,000 people have been left homeless by widespread flooding triggered by a week of torrential rains Vast areas of cropland and more than 2,000 homes have been flooded. In the northern region of the country, entire communities were swamped. A resulting outbreak of cholera has also killed at least 48 people in the flooded regions.
PHILIPPINES - Sept. 14, 1999 A van carrying at least 14 commuters was buried by a landslide triggered by torrential rains on a mountainous road. Part of a mountainside, weakened by days of rain, gave way and slid across the road. An ongoing storm has been drenching the region since the end of last week, causing flash flooding in many areas.
SOUTH KOREA - Sept. 13, 1999 Two deaths and numerous injuries and damage are being blamed on a powerful storm which struck late last week.
At least one person was buried alive and four others presumed dead when their cars were covered by a landslide.
The slide was triggered by drenching storms that dumped up to 14 inches of rain on much of the country late last week.
IRAN - Aug. 23, 1999 At least 25 people were killed when raging floods triggered by heavy rains hit eight communities . Northern Iran has been hit by several disastrous floods in coastal communities along the Caspian Sea since July.
VENEZUELA - August 20, 1999 - Three days of heavy rains in eastern caused flooding that washed out scores of houses, leaving more than 8,000 people homeless and harvests ruined.
SUDAN - August 16, 1999 - At least 11 people were killed in Khartoum and 50,000 others were left homeless
as floods washed over parts of the country in the past two weeks. The river's level is expected to rise even farther, prompting more flooding.
CHAD - August 13, 1999 -- More than two weeks of torrential rains have destroyed 5,000 homes and wreaked havoc on livestock and cropland. The rains are expected to continue throughout August.
CHINA - August 13, 1999 More than 100 people were killed and 120,000 others left stranded by flash floods.
July 21, 1999 -- More than 47,500 people were evacuated from central China's Hubei province as the Yangtze River rose to alarming heights, threatening to repeat last year's devastating flooding. The river rose a frightening three feet within a 48-hour period , and is expected to peak on Thursday, July 23 with the arrival of the flood crest rushing downstream. At that point, the river is expected to exceed last year's 104-foot level, which heralded THE WORST FLOODING ON THE YANGTZE IN 50 YEARS. Torrential rains have also caused severe flooding in Sichuan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces. A total of 240 people have died from floods this year, and another 1.8 million have been evacuated from their homes.
CAMBODIA - August 5, 1999 - has so far received 30 percent more rainfall than normal, and the country's leaders fear it could experience the worst flooding in years.
August 1, 1999 - Flash flooding from monsoon rains -
VIETNAM - 16 DEAD - 11 missing.
THAILAND - 4 DEAD.
PHILIPPINES - LANDSLIDES AND FLOODING - 20 DEAD.
SOUTH KOREA - LANDSLIDES AND FLOODING - 20 DEAD - 25 others missing.
AUSTRIA - July 29, 1999 - An enormous mudslide killed one person and buried six others .
INDIA - July 26, 1999 -- Ten people were killed after six hours of pounding rain set off deadly mudslides in the eastern state of Assam.
JULY 21. Eight persons were killed as heavy rains lashed various parts of the country worsening the situation in the flood-hit areas of Assam where the swelling rivers inundated over 800 villages. The toll in the rains and floods in the current spell of monsoons crossed 200.
July 13, 1999 -- Forty-five people have died and millions left homeless in heavy monsoon rains in northeastern India. Some two million people are now living in 137 disaster relief camps as a result of the massive flooding. Rains in Tripura have been incessant, disrupting communications and washing away bridges and roads. Rainfall in the state so far this year is at its heaviest in 50 years. Disaster relief officials said they now feared the situation could be made worse by recent floods in Nepal, as most of Bihar's rivers originate there.
