Philippine Disasters
According to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Philippines was the fourth most accident prone country in the world. The two institutions arrived at this conclusion after finding out that some 5,809,986 Filipinos were killed or injured as a result of disasters or man-made calamities over a ten-year period (1992-2001).

If not for its smaller population, the Philippines could have been the world's second most accident-prone country after Iran. Because of its large population, China topped the accident list, with 97,783,301 of its citizens affected by accidents during the ten-year period. It was followed by India, which reported 46,060,125 victims during the period. Both China and India have a population of over 1 billion people. Iran was third in the list, with 6,416,570 victims. Behind the Philippines were Ethiopia, with 3,334,266 victims; and Pakistan, 2,732,032 victims. The global report by International Red Cross said 535,416 people were killed in natural disasters and 86,947 others in industrial, transport and other "technological disasters" worldwide from 1992 to 2001.

According to the Philippine Red Cross, 31,835 Filipinos were killed and 94,369,462 others were affected by natural disasters and calamities in a span of 20 years. "The Philippines was a natural laboratory for floods, typhoons, monsoon rains, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides," Philippine National Red Cross governor Dante Liban said. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Worst Disaster in History
On July 12, 2000, the Philippines witnessed one of the world's most horrifying images of social tragedy in history. Nearly 500 garbage scavengers who were living literally at the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City were buried alive under tons of garbage when a 50-foot garbage mountain collapsed on their makeshift houses at the height of torrential rains. It was a tragic commentary on poverty in the Philippines, yet the lesson remains to be learned to this day.

Worst Typhoons and Flashfloods
As a typhoon codenamed Thelma was passing the Philippines on November 5, 1991, a flashflood hit Ormoc City in Leyte province, killing at least 3,000 people and destroying the homes of 50,000 others. In September 1984, a typhoon codenamed Ike killed 1,300 persons while in 1995 typhoon Angela killed 700 people. On August 3, 1999, heavy torrential rains caused a landslide that killed 58 people and buried over 100 houses at Cherry Hills Subsivision in Antipolo City. On November 9, 2001, a typhoon locally named "Nanang" caused a flashflood that buried 350 residents of Mahinog in the island-province of Camiguin. The highest death toll during a weather disturbance was reported in Bangladesh when a strong cyclone (typhoon) killed nearly 300,000 people in November 1970.