List of non-water floods

Most non-water floods (excluding mudflows, oil spills, or volcanic lahars) involve storage facilities suddenly releasing liquids, or industrial retaining reservoirs releasing toxic waste. Storage facility incidents usually cover a small area but can be catastrophic in cities. For example, a molasses tank failure in 1919 led to the Great Molasses Flood that killed 21 people in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.[1]

Industrial retaining reservoirs are often used to store toxic waste, and when they fail they can flood a large area, causing physical and environmental damage. The 2010 failure of a reservoir at the Ajka alumina plant in Hungary flooded a small town and killed several, while the cleanup from the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant spill in Tennessee, U.S. took several years and killed at least 40 workers involved.

List

List of non-water floods
NameDateVolume (litres)CompositionLocation
London Beer Flood17 October 1814580–1,470 thousandBeerLondon, England
Dublin whiskey fire18 June 1875?WhiskeyDublin, Ireland
Great Molasses Flood15 January 19198.7 millionMolassesBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Rockwood & Company shipping department fire12 May 1919?Molten chocolate and butterNew York City, U.S.
Aberfan disaster21 October 1966110 millionMine spoil and waterAberfan, Wales, UK
Church Rock uranium mill spill16 July 1979350 millionUranium tailingsChurch Rock, New Mexico, U.S.
Wisconsin butter flood3 May 1991?Butter, cheese, and processed meatMadison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Doñana disaster25 April 19984–5 billionMine tailingsAznalcóllar, Andalusia, Spain
2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill30 January 2000100 millionMine tailings with cyanideBaia Mare, Romania
Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill22 December 20084.2 billionCoal byproducts mixed with waterKingston, Tennessee, U.S.
Ajka alumina plant accident4 October 20101 billionBauxite residue mixed with water (caustic sludge, red in color)Ajka, Hungary
Mount Polley Mine4 August 201425 billionMine tailings - nickel, arsenic, copper, lead and compounds thereofnear Likely, British Columbia
Mariana dam disaster5 November 201543 billionTailings mixed with waterMariana, Brazil
Pepsi fruit juice flood25 April 201714 millionFruit and vegetable juicesLebedyan, Russia
Levira Distiller wine flood10 September 20232 millionRed wineSão Lourenço do Bairro, Portugal

See also

References

  1. "فيضان دبس السكر العظيم عام 1919: كارثة مميتة في بوسطن" . مجلة ذا كوليكتور . 26 أبريل 2023. تاريخ الاطلاع: 18 يونيو 2024 .