Collections: Learning from past disasters

Flooding in New South Wales and southeast Queensland has led to lost lives, homes, belongings, pets and livelihoods. This region, particularly Western Sydney, is no stranger to climate-related disasters.

From Haiti to China, a look back at some of the forgotten disasters that struck in 2021.

Tropical Cyclone (TC) Gita formed in early February 2018 and developed into a category 4 cyclone, affecting multiple countries in the Pacific region. Tonga was hardest-hit, incurring severe damage.

A massive landslide devastated the commu­nity of Barangay Guinsaugon, Municipality of St. Bernard, Southern Leyte Province, Philip­pines, at about 10:30 local time on 17 February 2006.

The Nevado del Ruiz Volcanic Eruption, also known as the Armero Tragedy, is considered as Colombia’s worst natural hazard-induced disaster which produced the deadliest lahar ever recorded. After 69 years of dormancy, the stratovolcano in Tolima, Colombia erupted in 13 November 1985 melting the mountain’s glaciers and sending lahars down its slopes at 60 kilometers per hour.

An earthquake hit central Italy in April 2009 and ravaged l'Aquila, a nearby town, by killing hundreds and destroying monuments from the Middle Ages.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global outbreak of coronavirus, an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus.

In July 2010, heavy monsoon rains affected millions of people by submerging approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's land area.