Yearender 2019: Natural disasters that devastated the world

Floods and heat waves shattered records this year

Last updated: December 24, 2019 | 19:56

2 MIN READ

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A child is seen on a street flooded by the rising Rio Solimoes, one of the two main branches of the Amazon River, in Anama, Amazonas state, Brazil

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Lava flows from the Stromboli volcano on the island of Stromboli, Italy

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Clouds gather but produce no rain as cracks are seen in the dried up municipal dam in drought-stricken Graaff-Reinet, South Africa

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A rescue worker swims as he checks around a flooded residential area due to Typhoon Hagibis, in Kawasaki, Japan

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People are silhouetted against the setting sun at "El Mirador de la Alemana" (The viewpoint of the German), as the summer's second heatwave hits Spain, in Malaga, southern Spain

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Buildings damaged during Cyclone Kenneth are seen from the air in a village north of Pemba, Mozambique

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Mud covers the seaside near the village of Fodele, following flash floods during a heavy storm on the island of Crete, Greece

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An officer with NSW Fire and Rescue protects the Colo Heights Public School from the Gospers Mountain fire near Colo Heights southwest of Sydney, Australia

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Workers on a boat rescue a person stranded inside a flooded tunnel after heavy floods in Pilar de la Horadada, Spain

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People run after collecting food aid from a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) helicopter in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Nhamatanda village, near Beira, Mozambique

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Residents stand among their destroyed houses after Typhoon Kammuri hit Sorsogon Province in the Philippines

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A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by farmers in Rio Pardo, Rondonia, Brazil

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Mount Anak Krakatau volcano spews hot ash during an eruption at Sunda strait in Lampung, Indonesia

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A fire blazes across bush in Newnes Plateau, New South Walles, Australia

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Waves hitting a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province

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Workers put up a platform at a flooded St. Mark's Square during a period of seasonal high water in Venice, Italy

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People clean up after flash rains hit Arganda del Rey, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain

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A rescue vehicle makes its way through a flooded area in the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River in Nagano Prefecture

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People wade through a flooded street after Hurricane Barry in Mandeville, Louisiana

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Smoke billows during a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil

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A firefighter tries to extinguish flames as a wildfire burns near the village of Gavalas, in Evia, Greece

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Personnel from the Royal Bahamas Police Force remove a body recovered in a destroyed neighborhood in the wake of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas

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A water taxi carried by record high water sits in a street in Venice, Italy

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A Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) fire brigade member attempts to control hot points during a fire at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land, Amazonas state, Brazil

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A large volcanic ash and gas plume rises above the Kuril Islands in the North Pacific Ocean after an unexpected series of eruptions from the Raikoke Volcano, as seen from the International Space Station

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