-
Gooniwindi Flood
Gooniwindi is a town in Australia that experiences freques\nt floods, with one in 1950 standing out as one of the morr prominent ones. The floodwaters swept the town and were several feet high, causing millions in damage.
There really isn't a lot of information on this one. Records were probably destroyed in a later Gooniwindi flood. -
Assam-Tibet Earthquake
This earthquake occurred on the third Independence Day of India with a magnitude of 8.6. The epicenter was located in Rima, Tibet, and killed between 1,500-3,300 people. It was the 10th largest earthquake of the 20th century, and also the largest known earthquake not caused by oceanic subduction. -
Winter of Terror
In the winter of 1950-1951, the Alps had a three month period in which deadly avalanches occured at astonishingly high rates, resulting in over 200 deaths and incedible amounts of damage to the local areas. -
March 1952 Southern United States Tornado Outbreak
The March 1952 Southern United States tornado outbreak was the 9th deadliest tornado outbreak in the history of the United States. It caused 209 deaths, 50 of which were related to a single tornado in Arkansas. The outbreak produced 11 violent F4 tornadoes across the Southern United States. The severe weather event resulted in the fourth-largest number of tornado fatalities within a 24-hour period since 1950. -
Myōjin-shō
The volcanic eruption from 1952 to 1953 was one of its biggest eruptions on record, causing the repetitious appearance and disappearance of an island. In September 1952, a survey vessel was destroyed by the volcano, with the loss of its crew of 31, including the nine scientists studying the eruption. -
Hurricane Barbara
Hurricane Barbara was the second named tropical cyclone of the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season. Barbara moved ashore in eastern North Carolina and curved back out to sea. Damage from the hurricane was fairly minor, totaling around $1.3 million, most of it occuring in North Carolina and Virginia from crop damage. The hurricane left several injuries, some traffic accidents, as well as seven fatalities in the US. It was a Category 2 on the modern-day Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. -
1955 United Kingdom heat wave
The UK drought of 1955 and heatwave were a set of severe weather events that occurred over the entire country. The drought was the 7th worst in Yorkshire, and worse than the famous 1976 drought/heatwave in the same area. The drought followed a period of extremely wet weather, limiting the effects and risk of flood. However, the usual issues were seen with water levels dropping and reservoirs running low. -
McDonald Chapel Tornado
The McDonald Chapel, Alabama torndao of 1956 was a deadly F4 tornado, rated much later after the Fujita scale was invented in the 70s. The tornado killed 25 people and injured 200 others and produced major devastation across areas west and north of downtown Birmingham. -
Lituya Bay Megatsunami
The Lituya Bay megatsunami occurred on July 9, 1958, with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of XI (Extreme). It took place on the Fairweather Fault and triggered a landslide that caused rock and ice to fall into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. The sudden displacement of water resulted in a wave that traveled across the bay with a crest reported to be 100 ft tall. This is the most significant megatsunami and the largest known in modern times. -
Hebgen Lake Earthquake
The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake, also known as the 1959 Yellowstone earthquake, occurred in southwestern Montana, United States. The earthquake measured 7.3 – 7.5 on the Richter magnitude scale, and caused a huge landslide that caused over 28 fatalities and left $11 million in damage. The slide blocked the flow of the Madison River resulting in the creation of Quake Lake.
