Natural disasters in China Development Institute, the state-led nature of humanitarian aid in today's China traces back to these traditional beliefs. Chinese believed that natural disasters would foretell the end of a dynasty or the death of a great leader. This concept of cosmic linkage between natural disasters and human conduct was radically rejected at the height of Maoist years, when nature was represented as ‘an enemy to be overcome, an adversary to be brought to heel’. Propaganda posters were produced with the slogan, "Earthquakes cannot frighten us, the people will certainly conquer nature." China has had 6 of the world's top 10 deadliest
Blizzard and flood of 1863 Blizzard and flood of 1863 The blizzard and flood of 1863 was a series of consecutive natural disasters in Central Otago in New Zealand's South Island. In the early 1860s the area was in the midst of a gold rush. From July to August 1863 the gold fields suffered from a combination of floods, snowstorms, and blizzards that caused heavy loss of life among the gold miners. At least 40 died during the July rains and more than 11 in the August snows. Sources using the earliest reports of loss of life tend to greatly overstate the numbers who died.