Here are the most shocking American disasters you had no idea about!
Many disasters took place in the Americas in 2023. While some shocking things have been in the public eye almost every day since they emerged, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine or the war between Palestine and the Gaza Strip, some other shockingly bad things that happened closer to us are still a mystery.
Of course, bad things happen in the world all the time, but these lesser-known catastrophes still destroy people’s peace and livelihoods, claim lives, and set lots and lots of communities back.
What’s good about this is that although these calamities weren’t brought into the public eye that much, victims received much-needed help from the Red Cross. If you want to know more about these fiascos and how people dealt with them, keep reading!
1. Paraguay – floods
While some rains here and there can help regulate the temperature and make people’s harvests grow, too many of them can cause serious disasters, and this is exactly what happened in Paraguay.
In February and March 2023, the rains were so heavy that the northern part of the country was victim to severe flooding, and many people were forced to leave their households behind so they could save themselves from the strong waters.
Besides leaving individuals homeless, those heavy rains also destroyed important industries and paralyzed key infrastructure in the country.
2. Chile – forest fires
The month of February 2023 wasn’t friendly with Chile either, as there were incredibly high temperatures and strong winds in the country, which caused lots of forest fires across central and southern parts of the nation.
The widespread damage reached more than 5,000 people in the following months, and they all needed medical help and money to get important things for their recovery. What can we say? Global warming is no joke!
Did you know about these 2 major disasters?
3. Ecuador – earthquake, floods, and landslides
The first quarter of 2023 was a terrible period for the citizens of Ecuador, as their dear land was struck by multiple disasters, such as hailstorms, floods, building collapses, an earthquake, and landslides.
Thousands of people were affected by these atrocious calamities, and many were those who were forced to leave their homes behind. The conditions were so terrible in the places where those disasters struck that citizens needed health care, shelter, cash assistance, sanitation, and food and water supplies.
4. Haiti – floods
Haiti was victim to several flash floods in early June 2023, but that wasn’t all, as heavy rainstorms that swept the entire country soon followed. Even though these disasters weren’t considered tropical downpours or cyclones, thousands of families were affected by them.
Not to mention, no less than 50 people lost their lives in these tragic events, and lots of houses were destroyed, leaving families without a place to rest their heads at night. The victims were helped by the Haitian Red Cross, and they received first aid, assistance with evacuations, mattresses, shovels, water treatment kits, plastic sheeting, rakes, and shovels.
5. Uruguay – drought
People in Uruguay didn’t have that much of a happy 2022 since there was a major lack of rain there. Due to a shortage in precipitation since September 2022 and rising summertime temperatures, Uruguay is presently suffering from a severe drought, which has led the government of Uruguay to proclaim a state of emergency.
Due to a deficiency of precipitation since September 2022 and rising summertime temperatures, Uruguay is presently suffering from a severe drought, which has led the government of the country to proclaim a state of emergency.
6. Argentina – floods
In June 2023, roughly 4,000 families in Buenos Aires and Quilmes were victims of heavy rains that left tons of disasters behind. Those terrible floodings caused road closures, power outages, and contamination of water supplies.
People needed shelter, water, food, sanitation, hygiene support, first aid, and psychological support, especially those who were forced to leave their homes behind due to extreme weather conditions.
7. Dominican Republic – floods
We’ve previously talked about the strong rainstorm that affected Haiti, but apparently, that wasn’t the only victim. This natural catastrophe also affected several communities across the border in the Dominican Republic and caused disastrous flash flooding in the country’s west.
Several families were affected by those terrible events, but the Dominican Red Cross was there with them and helped the victims with search and rescue missions, evacuation, hygiene and health services, psychological first aid, and restoring family links (RFL) services.
Did you know about these natural disasters that occurred in the Americas in 2023? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think! Let’s hope that the world won’t see any other enormous disasters in the future! If you have any requests for what you’d like to read next, feel free to share them with us!
If you liked reading this article and you want to read something else from Devastating Disasters, here’s a good one for you: Travelers Beware, These Are the 7 Most Dangerous Countries in the World
