1994 Dronka floods and lightning strike

On 2 November 1994 a lightning strike ignited three diesel and aircraft fuel tanks belonging to the Egyptian Army strategic reserve near the village of Dronka, Asyut Governorate in Egypt. The lightning was part of a severe storm that caused heavy flash flooding and widespread damage in four governorates in Upper Egypt leading to hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of people made homeless in one of Egypt's worst urban disasters.[1] The flooding compounded with the lightning strike meant flaming oil leaked from the tanks and was carried by floodwater into the village. More than 200 houses were destroyed and 469 people killed.[2]

1994 Dronka floods and lightning strike
Date2 November 1994
LocationDronka, Asyut Governorate, Egypt
Coordinates27.2°N 31.0°E / 27.2; 31.0
TypeFire and flood
CauseLightning strike
Deaths469
Property damageMore than 200 houses destroyed
Displaced20,000 people

Floods and strike

On 2 November 1994, a five-hour thunderstorm led to flash floods that affected 124 villages in the four governorates of Asyut, Sohag, Qena and Luxor.[1]

Near the village of Dronka, Asyut, the flooding of a Western Desert ravine coincided with a lightning strike that hit a point of 78.6 metres (258 ft) elevation at 27.2°N 31.0°E / 27.2; 31.0 near Dronka,[2] which was near a complex of eight oil tanks maintained by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation as a strategic reserve for the Egyptian Army.[3] The tanks were spaced around 60 metres (65 yd) apart and three of them caught fire.[3] Around 15,000 tonnes (15,000 long tons) of oil leaked from the tanks; there was no bund wall or any secondary confinement in place to contain the oil,[4] which mixed with floodwaters that were being held back by a nearby railway line. The line collapsed, and the water and flaming oil washed into Dronka, a village of 10,000 people.[2]

Effects

Reports from the flooding in the four governorates show a total of almost 600 people were killed, and 11,148 houses destroyed and a further 11,085 damaged making 110,660 people homeless.[5] 23,531 feddans (Approx. 12,000 HA) of agricultural land were devastaed, and total damage exceeded $140 million.[5]

An Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population report noted that 469 bodies were recovered from the village of Dronka alone, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) considers this figure to be the death toll.[2] More than 200 houses in Dronka were destroyed and 20,000 residents of the village and surrounding area fled to Assiut. One of the tanks remained ablaze into the night as firefighters decided it was best to let it burn out; there were fears it could ignite some of the surviving five oil tanks. The governor of Assiut declared a state of emergency due to the storm and lightning strike.[3]

The WMO attributes the death toll of 469 to the lightning strike and notes the disaster is the highest mortality event as a result of a lightning strike on record (dating back to 1873).[2] The highest death toll directly caused by a single lightning strike is 21 people killed while sheltering in a hut in Zimbabwe in 1975.[6]

References
  1. "Egypt - Floods Nov 1994 UN DHA Situation Reports 1-4 - Egypt | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  2. "World: Highest Mortality Lightning". World Meteorological Organization's World Weather & Climate Extremes Archive. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  3. "Flood of blazing oil kills 300 villagers". The Independent. 3 November 1994. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  4. WS Atkins Consultants Ltd (2001). Effects of secondary containment on source term modelling (PDF) (Report). pp. C-6–C-7. HSE Contract Research Report 2001/324. Retrieved 2 February 2022. There was no secondary containment in place to contain the release. If well designed bunding and good drainage systems had been in place, the burning fuel may have been contained on the site without spreading the fire.
  5. "Egypt - Floods Nov 1994 UN DHA Situation Reports 1-4 - Egypt | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  6. "WMO certifies two megaflash lightning records". World Meteorological Organization. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
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