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Droughts, floods, wildfires: 2024 natural disasters in pictures

An array of climate emergencies has killed, injured and displaced thousands across the globe this year.

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A local resident helps free a car that became stranded in a stretch of flooding road as Tropical Storm Helene strikes, on the outskirts of Boone, North Carolina, U.S. September 27, 2024
A resident of North Carolina helps free a stranded car on a flooding road as Tropical Storm Helene strikes in the United States on September 27. [Jonathan Drake/Reuters]
Published On 24 Dec 2024

People worldwide have faced an array of climate emergencies, ranging from prolonged droughts and wildfires to extreme rainfall and devastating floods, in 2024.

Southeast Asia and South China experienced the destructive force of Typhoon Yagi, a severe tropical storm that caused the most devastation in Vietnam, resulting in 325 deaths, 24 people reported missing, and damage to more than 320,000 structures.

In the United States, California battled wildfires while Tropical Storm Helene struck the southeastern region, inflicting catastrophic damage and killing at least 234 people.

In South America, severe drought caused Brazil’s Madeira River to dry up, while wildfires ravaged parts of Bolivia and Ecuador battled a bushfire close to its capital.

Europe also faced significant challenges. Portugal struggled with widespread wildfires, and towards the end of September, Storm Boris brought heavy rainfall and flooding to Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

While September stood out for its intensity, the entire year has set new records for the scale and impact of climate disasters globally.

Here is a recap of the year’s major events, captured in pictures.

A resident flees an encroaching forest fire in Vina del Mar, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024
A resident flees an encroaching forest fire in Vina del Mar, Chile, on February 3. Intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area killed several people and destroyed hundreds of homes. [Esteban Felix/AP Photo]
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A drone view shows a man working on a car, partially submerged by floods caused by heavy rains, as people stand nearby, in Avellaneda, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 12
A drone view shows a man working on a car, partially submerged by floods caused by heavy rains, as people stand nearby, in Avellaneda, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 12. [Agustin Marcarian/Reuters]
A volunteer uses a kayak during a rescue operation through a road flooded due to heavy rains in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 18
A volunteer uses a kayak during a rescue operation through a road flooded due to heavy rains in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on April 18. A UAE record was set with 259.5mm of rainfall recorded over 24 hours. [Abdel Hadi Ramahi/Reuters]
A man is rescued by military firefighters after the floods in Canoas, at the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 4
A man is rescued by military firefighters after the floods in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on May 4. The country experienced over April and May its worst floods in 80 years with 181 dead, landslides and a dam collapse. [Renan Mattos/Reuters]
An air tanker drops retardant behind a home while battling the Toll Fire near Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, July 2, 2024
An air tanker drops retardant behind a home while battling the Toll Fire near Calistoga, California, on July 2. An extended heatwave blanketing northern California resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]
This photo shows an aerial view of people crossing a walkway built above flood waters on a street in Maying town in Jiujiang, in China's central Jiangxi province on July 3, 2024
An aerial view of people crossing a walkway built above floodwaters on a street in Maying town in Jiujiang, in China's central Jiangxi province, on July 3. Heavy rainfall caused rivers to rise and flood in southeastern and central China, displacing hundreds of thousands. [AFP]
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A man carrying his dogs gets off a boat along a flooded road following heavy rains brought by Typhoon Gaemi, in Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 2
A man carrying his dogs gets off a boat along a flooded road following heavy rains brought by Typhoon Gaemi, in Marikina City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on July 24. The storm affected the northern Philippines, where it displaced almost 300,000 people, as well as northern Taiwan and Southeastern China. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
A worker operates a mobile crane to remove dead fish floating from the Xiria River near Volos, central Greece, on August 28, 2024
A worker operates a mobile crane to remove dead fish floating from the Xiria River near Volos, central Greece on August 28. Nearly a year after catastrophic floods in the Thessaly region, tonnes of dead fish washed into the Gulf of Volos, 170km north of Athens. The dead fish, experts say, came from Lake Karla, which was drained in 1962 to combat malaria and expanded to three times its normal size after the floods. [Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP]
Residents transport drinking water from Humaita to the Paraizinho community, along the dry Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon River, during the dry season, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024
Residents transport drinking water from Humaita to the Paraizinho community, along the dry Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon River, during the dry season, Amazonas State, Brazil on September 8. All time lows were recorded in the main tributaries of Amazon River, since the record started in the 1950s. [Edmar Barros/AP Photo]
A boy sits in a floating basket as people wade through a flooded street following the impact of Typhoon Yagi, in Hanoi, Vietnam, September 11, 2024
A boy sits in a floating basket as people wade through a flooded street following the impact of Typhoon Yagi, in Hanoi, Vietnam, on September 11. [Khanh Vu/Reuters]
A resident hugs her relative after being evacuated from her flooded house in Jesenik, Czech Republic, Sunday, Sept. 15
A resident hugs her relative after being evacuated from her flooded house in Jesenik, Czech Republic, on September 15. [Petr David Josek/AP Photo]
Villagers combat a wildfire in Busturenga, Albergaria-a-Velha in Aveiro on September 16, 2024
Villagers combat a wildfire in Busturenga, Albergaria-a-Velha in Aveiro, Portugal, on September 16. Portugal battled northern forest fires that killed two people and injured a dozen firefighters. [Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP]
Smoke from a bushfire is pictured over Quito on September 24, 2024
Smoke from a wildfire is pictured over Quito, Ecuador, on September 24. Quito was in a "critical" situation due to five forest fires that forced the preventive evacuation of some 100 families, and covered whole neighbourhoods in smoke. More than 10,980 hectares around the country were affected by the wildfires. [Galo Paguay/AFP]
A woman checks on a baby inside a flooded house as Hurricane Milton passes close to the Cuban coast, in Batabano, Cuba, October 9, 2024
A woman checks on a baby inside a flooded house as Hurricane Milton passes close to the Cuban coast, in Batabano, Cuba, on October 9. The storm caused heavy downpours and devastation in Cuba and Florida. [Norlys Perez/Reuters]
Cows and buffaloes wade into the polluted Yamuna river on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, November 5, 2024
Cows and buffaloes wade into the polluted Yamuna river on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, on November 5. Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, with industrial waste floating as a foam on its surface. [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]
Members of the V battalion of the military emergency unit, UME, use a canoe to search the area for bodies washed away by the floods in the outskirts of Valencia, Spain, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024
Members of the V battalion of Spain's military emergency unit, UME, use a canoe to search an area for bodies washed away by the floods in the outskirts of Valencia, Spain, on November 8. Extreme rainfall triggered flash floods that killed more than 200 people in eastern Spain, in the country's worst floods in a century. [Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo]
Residents carry their belongings as the river swells, following heavy rains from Typhoon Toraji in Ilagan City, Isabela province, northern Philippines on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024
Residents carry their belongings as the river swells, following heavy rains from Typhoon Toraji in Ilagan City, Isabela province, the northern Philippines, on November 11. Along with Yinxing, Usagi and Man-yi, it was among four tropical cyclones that existed simultaneously in the Western Pacific in November, a first since records began in 1951. [Noel Celis/AP Photo]
This photograph shows damages in a slum with precarious housing in Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 17, 2024, after the cyclone Chido hit the archipelago
This photograph shows damage to a slum with precarious housing in Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 17, after the cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. [Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP]

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