Natural Disasters That Shook India and Rest Of The World This Year

Many have termed 2020 as the year of tragedies that claimed thousands of lives be it in man-made or natural disasters. From the COVID pandemic to locust attacks to floods, the year kept everyone on the edge. Here are some most dangerous natural disasters that occurred in India and around the World in the year 2020.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Though the coronavirus outbreak occurred in the last quarter of 2019, the pandemic played havoc across the world in the following year in 2020. The virus was first discovered in China's Wuhan and later gripped the world. The COVID-19 is estimated to have claimed over 1.5 million lives globally. In India, with 19,556 new cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 1,00,75,116. Out of these 2.92 lakh are active while over 96.36 lakh people have recovered from the disease. With 301 fatalities in the last 24 hours, the death toll reached 1,46,111.

Cyclone Amphan

Cyclone Amphan was a tropical cyclone that hit West Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh in May 2020 and caused widespread destruction. Cyclone Amphan was the second major cyclone in the Bay of Bengal after the super cyclone of 1999. Over 86 people lost their lives in this cyclone. Besides, the cyclone also left a trail of massive destruction of property in Odisha and West Bengal.

Assam Floods

According to an ANI report, the Assam floods in July 2020 affected more than 56 lakh people and killed over 100. In the Kaziranga National Park, over 137 animals including 14 one-horned rhinos died during the floods.

Locust swarms

Another major natural disaster was a locust attack. The attack was reported to damaged millions of acres of standing crops across the continents in Asia and Africa. Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh among other witnessed locust attacks on the crop.

Indonesia Flash Floods

Nearly 66 people were killed when there was a heavy downpour in the early hours of January 1 in 2020 leading to subsequent flooding in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and its surrounding areas. The flash floods displaced four lakh people.