Flooding And Natural Disasters

In 2005 Belgium raised funds for the Red Cross which helped the victims of the devastating earthquake/tsunami in southeast Asia at the end of 2004.

Indonesia
Flood Relief surtax stamps
February 17, 1961
Unusually severe monsoon storms produced heavy flooding in parts of Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) in the winter of 1961. Three agriculture stamps issued in 1960 were overprinted in black with a title "Natural disasters 1961" and the amount of surcharge.

In 2006 Austria overprinted a stamp belonging to the set on vacation locations, this one "Moon Lake" with a high surcharge to raise money for the flood victims of 2005. Flooding had been catastrophic in 2002 as well.

Hungary issued a charity stamp calling for help in raising funds for victims of flooding in 1997; a drowning daisy. Photo: Danube flooding in Budapest in 2013.

On the 7th of December Armenia was struck by a devastating earthquake, measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale. Approximately 25,000 people were killed, and more than 500,000 made homeless. 58 villages were flattened, another 100 seriously damaged. Cyprus issued a stamp to raise funds.

The Hawke's Bay Earthquake, also known as the Napier Earthquake, occurred on the 3rd of February 1931, killing 256 and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half minutes and measured magnitude 7.8 Ms (the Richter scale came into use only a few years later).

A German stamp issued in 1998 had a surcharge to raise funds for nature conservation 'Protect Coasts and Oceans'. The same design by M. Gottschall was used for the charity stamp of 2013 to raise funds for victims of the flood disaster of that summer. (Note change from DMark to €) Photo: the Elbe River at the upper left spread over vast areas of farmland and villages.

The British are used to plenty of rain, but flooding has reached unprecedented levels these past years. Flood rescue out of a set of stamps drawing attention to first responders, Fire and Rescue Services, 2009.

Tropical Storm Alleta was a weak but destructive hurricane that killed 308 people (many missing as well) while meandering off the coast of Central America in May 1982. Most of the damage was done by torrential rains leading to flooding. Red Cross rescue and aid,1983.

Argentina
For the Victims of San Juan
February 17, 1944
The 1944 San Juan earthquake is acknowledged as the worst natural disaster in Argentine history. The 6.7 to 7.8 magnitude earthquake took place in the province of San Juan at 8:52 pm on January 15, 1944. It destroyed a large part of San Juan and killed 10,000 of its inhabitants, 10% of its population at the time. One third of the province population became homeless.

Wow! Thanks for all the posts. I've been so busy lately, I haven't had time for my stamps, but I have been seeing the posts. Many of these are somewhere in my main collection, but I did not recognize them as disaster stamps ( like the Argentina stamps) Makes me want to take off early today and go spend the day with my stamps. Funny you mention global warming. I'm a meteorologist by profession and deal with that topic more and more in my job. I'll try to post a few more by the end of the weekend. Thanks for keeping the topic alive.

Amy

In 2005 Pakistan and its neighbors, Kashmir and Afghanistan, were hit by one of the worst earthquakes in recent history, killing an estimated 75,000 people. Many towns were completely flattened as seen in the photo of Balakot.



(Hi Amy, Nice to see you are back; some of the stamps on your first three pages may have turned up again, but you won't mind if they are in more detail?. K.)

The eastern regions of South Africa, Natal regions, are prone to flooding when cyclones come in from the southern Indian ocean. Among the worst floods was that of 1987. S.A. added surcharges to several stamps, among them one commemorating the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias who sailed around the Cape in 1488. Note both languages.

The summer of 2005 saw vast flooding in much of central and eastern Europe, again in the following years, especially in 2014 (photo at Slovenian/Croatian border). The stamp calls for support for flood victims and for the Red Cross.

The Niger River of Africa has often flooded, causing tremendous damage to villages and croplands along its banks. The souvenir sheet commemorates the help of Rotary in such times of crisis (2013). (Photo: Niamey in 2012)