# List of natural disasters in Australia

This is a list of all major natural disasters in Australian European history. The natural disasters included here are all the notable events that resulted in significant loss of life or property due to natural, non-biological processes of the Earth within Australian territory. Due to inflation, the monetary damage estimates are not comparable. Unless otherwise noted, the year given is when the currency's valuation was calculated. References can be found in the associated articles noted.
| Year | Disaster | Event | Death toll | Material destruction | Estimated cost | Notes |
| 1851 | bushfire | Black Thursday bushfires | 12 | 50,000 square kilometres (12,000,000 acres; 5,000,000 ha) burnt One million sheep and thousands of cattle | | |
| 1852 | Flood | 1852 Gundagai flood | 89 | Destroyed the entire town | | A severe flash flood destroyed the town of Gundagai. |
| 1860 | Flood | Nowra Flood | 16 | | | The flood led to the rebuilding of Nowra as it was originally located in a low-lying area near the Shoalhaven River. The village of Terara was also abandoned and its residents moved to the relocated Nowra. |
| 1875 | Cyclone | Sinking of the SS Gothenburg | 98–112 | Sinking of the SS Gothenburg | | In February 1875 Gothenburg was wrecked by a cyclone on the Great Barrier Reef off the north coast of Queensland. 22 people survived in three lifeboats. Records of passengers vary. |
| 1887 | Cyclone | Unnamed Cyclone (1887) | 140 | Around 20 boats lost. | | A late season cyclone hit the Eighty Mile Beach area (then known as Ninety Mile Beach), devastating the pearling fleet there. |
| 1893 | Flood | 1893 Brisbane flood | 35 | | A$4 million (1893 figures) | Occasionally referred to as the Great Flood of 1893 or the Black February flood |
| 1894 | Cyclone | 1894 January 4th unnamed tropical cyclone | 40+ | 12 luggers and the steamer Anne sunk, 15000 sheep killed | £15,000 | On 4 January 1894 and 9 January 1894 – Within the space of five days, two cyclones crossed the Pilbara coast. The first caused damage to many buildings at Roebourne and Cossack. The second cyclone caused more significant damage to the area completely washing away the previously damaged sea wall at Cossack. |
| 1894 | Cyclone | 1894 January 9th unnamed tropical cyclone | 40+ | 12 luggers and the steamer Anne sunk, 15000 sheep killed | £15,000 | On 4 January 1894 and 9 January 1894 – Within the space of five days, two cyclones crossed the Pilbara coast. The first caused damage to many buildings at Roebourne and Cossack. The second cyclone caused more significant damage to the area completely washing away the previously damaged sea wall at Cossack. |
| 1895–1896 | Heat wave | 1895–1896 Australian heat wave | 437 | | | Widespread heat wave killed 437, including 47 in Bourke, New South Wales. |
| 1896 | Cyclone | Cyclone Sigma | 23–26 | | | |
| 1897 | Cyclone | 1897 Darwin cyclone | 28 | Destroyed the city of Darwin | £150,000 (1897 AUD) | The cyclone is considered the worst cyclone to strike the Northern Territory of Australia prior to Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Prior to contemporary naming conventions, the storm became known as the "Great Hurricane". |
| 1898 | Bushfire | Red Tuesday bushfires | 12 | Two thousand buildings | | |
| 1899 | Cyclone | Cyclone Mahina | 300–410 | | | |
| 1903 | Cyclone | Cyclone Leonta | 14 | | £250,000 damage (1903 AUD) | 12 people killed in Townsville and 2 in Charters Towers and caused massive property damage across North Queensland |
| 1907–1908 | Heat wave | 1907–1908 Australian heat wave | 246 | | | There were 105 deaths in South Australia alone (between 7 December 1907 and 8 February 1908). |
| 1909 | Flood | 1909 Western Victorian floods | 4 | | | |
| 1909–1910 | Heat wave | 1909–1910 Australian heat wave | 109 | | | 1909 Dec – 1910 Feb |
| 1911 | Cyclone | Sinking of the SS Yongala | 122 | SS Yongala | | En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville. The wreck is one of the largest and well-preserved shipwrecks of Queensland's seas. |
| 1911–1912 | Heat wave | 1911–1912 Australian heat wave | 143 | | | |
| 1912 | Cyclone | Sinking of the SS Koombana and Balla Balla cyclone | 173+ | | | The SS Koombana was lost in a cyclone between Port Hedland and Broome with all 158 on board. The cyclone crossed the Western Australia coast around Balla Balla, early on 22nd. Several other ships and vessels were also wrecked in the cyclone, claiming another 15 lives. |
| 1913–1914 | Heat wave | 1913–1914 Australian heat wave | 122 | | | |
| 1916 | Flood | Clermont flood of 1916 | 65 | | | On 28 December floods in Clermont, Queensland from a cyclone in the Whitsunday Passage which led to cyclonic rains. |
| 1918 | Cyclone | Mackay cyclone | 30 | | | Cyclone and storm surge that caused heavy damage in Mackay, Rockhampton and surrounding areas on 20 January 1918. |
| 1918 | Cyclone | Innisfail cyclone | 37–97 | | | On 10 March 1918, a cyclone passed over Innisfail. Only 12 houses in the town of 3500 residents survived being blown flat or unroofed, and damage was also widespread in Cairns,100 km to the north, Babinda, and inland to the Atherton Tableland. |
| 1920–1921 | Heat wave | 1920–1921 Australian heat wave | 147 | | | |
| 1926 | Bushfire | 1925–26 Victorian bushfire season | 60 | 1,000 buildings were destroyed. | | The worst fires occurred on 14 February (Black Sunday) in the Gippsland region and other areas, where 31 people died at Warburton, Victoria. Houses and buildings were destroyed in many places including Erica and Belgrave. The town of Noojee was destroyed, with only the hotel left standing. In all, over the two-month period, 60 people died and 1,000 buildings were destroyed. |
| 1926–1927 | Heat wave | 1926–1927 Australian heat wave | 130 | | | 1926 Dec – 1927 Jan |
| 1929 | Flood | 1929 Tasmanian floods | 22 | | | Eight drowned when truck ploughed into river and 14 died when dam collapsed and wall swept into town. |
| 1932 | Bushfire | 1932 West Gippsland fires | 9 | 206,000 ha burnt | | Six of the nine killed were mill workers who became trapped in the town Erica. |
| 1934 | Flood | 1934 Victorian floods | 36 | 400 houses | | Torrential rainfall of up to 350 millimetres (14 in). Yarra River becomes raging torrent. Extensive damage with 35 dead, 250 injured, and 6,000 homeless. Of the dead, 18 died from drowning. |
| 1938 | Bushfire | Black Sunday | 5 | | | A rough surf pulled in swimmers at Bondi Beach, Sydney, leading to 245 people saved with 60 receiving treatment and 35 revived from unconsciousness. |
| 1938–1939 | Heat wave | Black Friday bushfires | 438 | | | Heat wave killed 438 and sparked the Black Friday bushfires (see below). |
| 1938–1939 | Bushfire | Black Friday bushfires | 71 | 3,700 buildings | | |
| 1939–1940 | Heat wave | 1939–1940 Australian heat wave | 112 | | | |
| 1943–1944 | Bushfire | 1943–44 Victorian bushfire season | 51 | 500 buildings | | Bushfires broke out in various parts of Victoria from late December 1943 to mid February 1944, resulting in 51 deaths, and destroying 500 buildings. |
| 1947 | Hailstorm | Sydney hailstorm | 0 | | 45,000,000 AUD (2007) | |
| 1951 | Volcano | Mount Lamington eruption | 2,942 | | | Occurred in the former Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Deadliest natural disaster in Australian history. |
| 1954 | Cyclone | The Gold Coast Cyclone | 26–30 | | | A tropical cyclone (known as The Gold Coast Cyclone) crossed the coast late evening on 20 February 1954 at Coolangatta. Extreme rainfall associated with the cyclone produced record totals, including 900mm at Springbrook, Queensland in the 24 hours crossing and 809mm at Dorrigo, New South Wales in 24 hours to 9 am on 21st. There was widespread severe flooding over many areas of NSW. |
| 1955 | Bushfire | Black Sunday bushfires | 2 | | | |
| 1955 | Flood | 1955 Hunter Valley floods | 25 | | | Most deaths were around Singleton and Maitland, but most other river systems in the state were also in flood. |
| 1959 | Heat wave | 1959 Australian heat wave | 105–145 | | | 1959 Jan – Feb heat wave in southern regions of Australia. Some sources puts the death toll as high as 145. |
| 1961 | Bushfire | Western Australian bushfires | 0 | 160 homes | | |
| 1965 | Bushfire | Chatsbury bushfires | 3 | 59 homes | | |
| 1967 | Bushfire | Tasmanian fires | 62 | 1,293 homes | | Now known as Black Tuesday, 7000 left homeless as over a hundred fires burned in southern Tasmania. |
| 1969 | Bushfire | 1969 bushfires | 23 | 230 houses, 21 other buildings and more than 12,000 stock | | Occurred on 8 January 1969. 17 casualties at Lara |
| 1970 | Cyclone | Cyclone Ada | 14 | | 12,000,000 AUD (1970) | |
| 1971 | Flood | 1971 Canberra flood. | 7 | | | |
| 1971 | Tornado | Kin Kin tornado | 3 | | 100,000 AUD | A tornado swept through the town of Kin Kin. |
| 1974 | Bushfire | 1974-75 Australian bushfire season | 6 | Farmers' crops, 57,000 farm animals, and 10,200 kilometres (6,300 mi) of fencing | | Fire burned up 117 million hectares (290 million acres), which is 15% of Australia's land. |
| 1974 | Flood | Brisbane flood | 16 | | 980,000,000 AUD | |
| 1974 | Cyclone | Cyclone Tracy | 71 | | 645,350,000 USD (1974) | Cyclone Tracy destroys the city of Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. Top wind gust recorded was 217 kilometres per hour (135 mph). On 17 March 2005, a Northern Territory Coroner's Inquest outcome increased the official death toll from 65 to 71. |
| 1978 | Cyclone | Cyclone Alby | 7 | | 45,000,000 USD (1978) | |
| 1983 | Bushfire | Ash Wednesday bushfires | 75 | 2,400 homes | | |
| 1989 | Cyclone | Cyclone Orson | 5 | | 16,800,000 USD (1989) | |
| 1989 | Earthquake | Newcastle earthquake | 13 | | 4,000,000,000 AUD | |
| 1990 | Flood | Cyclone Nancy | 6 | | | Tropical Cyclone Nancy crossed the coast near Byron Bay, then moving back out to sea. It brought extremely heavy rain which led to flash flooding, with 6 lives lost to drowning. |
| 1990 | Cyclone | Cyclone Nancy | 6 | | | Tropical Cyclone Nancy crossed the coast near Byron Bay, then moving back out to sea. It brought extremely heavy rain which led to flash flooding, with 6 lives lost to drowning. |
| 1993–1994 | Bushfire | Eastern seaboard fires | 4 | 225 homes | | |
| 1996 | Landslide | Gracetown landslide | 9 | | | About 30 tonnes of rock and sand fell from a cliff to the below spectators of a school surf event. |
| 1997 | Landslide | Thredbo landslide | 18 | | | One victim was found alive after 60 hours of being buried. |
| 1998 | Flood | Cyclone Les (1998) | 3 | | | |
| 1998 | Cyclone | Cyclone Les (1998) | 3 | | | |
| 1998 | Flood | 1998 Townsville and Thuringowa city floods | 1 | | $100,000,000 AUD | |
| 1998 | Bushfire | Linton Bushfire | 5 | | | |
| 1998 | Thunderstorm | Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race | 6 | | 30,000,000 AUD | A supercell storm caused chaos during the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, with only 44 out of 115 yachts finishing. |
| 1999 | Cyclone | Cyclone Vance | 0 | | 100,000,000 USD (1999) | |
| 1999 | Hailstorm | Sydney hailstorm | 1 | | 2,300,000,000 AUD | |
| 2001–2002 | Bushfire | Black Christmas bushfires | 0 | 121 homes | | |
| 2002 | Cyclone | Cyclone Chris | 12 | | 929,000 USD (2002) | |
| 2003 | Thunderstorm | 2003 Melbourne thunderstorm | 0 | | | The Australian Bureau of Meteorology called the storm a "once in 100-year event". |
| 2003 | Bushfire | Canberra bushfires | 4 | Close to 500 homes | 350,000,000 AUD (2003) | |
| 2003 | Bushfire | Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires | 3 | 41 homes | | |
| 2005 | Bushfire | Eyre Peninsula bushfire, 2005 | 9 | 93 homes | | |
| 2006 | Bushfire | Junee Bushfire | 0 | | | |
| 2006 | Cyclone | Cyclone Glenda | 0 | | 965,000 USD (2006) | |
| 2006 | Bushfire | Mount Lubra bushfire | 2 | | | |
| 2006 | Cyclone | Cyclone Larry | 1 | | 1,100,000,000 USD (2006) | |
| 2006 | Bushfire | Pulletop bushfire | 0 | | | |
| 2007 | Bushfire | Kangaroo Island bushfires | 1 | | | |
| 2007 | Cyclone | Cyclone George | 5 | | 15,700,000 USD (2007) | |
| 2007 | Flood/Storm | 2007 New South Wales storms | 10 | | | |
| 2008 | Thunderstorm | Queensland storms | 2 | | 500,000,000 AUD | |
| 2009 | Heat wave | 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave | 374 | | | A nine-day heat wave in early 2009 in which Adelaide recorded six consecutive days over 40 °C (104 °F), a high of 45.7 °C (114.3 °F) and a record overnight minimum of 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) on 28 January. Sparked the Black Saturday bushfires (see below). Health authorities attribute 374 deaths to the heat wave. |
| 2009 | Bushfire | Black Saturday bushfires | 173 | 2,029 homes, 2,000 other structures | | |
| 2009 | Cyclone | Cyclone Hamish | 2 | | 38,800,000 USD (2009) | |
| 2010 | Flood | March 2010 Queensland floods | 0 | | 200,000,000+ AUD | |
| 2010 | Flood | March 2010 Victoria storms | 0 | 2000+ houses | 500,000,000+ AUD | |
| 2010 | Flood | 2010 Western Australian storms | 0 | | $1,080,000,000 AUD | It is the costliest natural disaster in Western Australian history |
| 2010 | Flood | September 2010 Victoria floods | 0 | 250 | | |
| 2010 | Flood | 2010 Gascoyne River flood | 0 | two thousand head of cattle perished | 100,000,000 AUD ( preliminary) | The most severe flood to take place along the Gascoyne River in Western Australia on record. |
| 2010–2011 | Flood | 2010–11 Queensland floods | 33 | | 2,390,000,000 AUD | |
| 2011 | Cyclone | Cyclone Yasi | 1 | | 3,600,000,000 USD (2011) | |
| 2011 | Flood | 2011 Victoria floods | 2 | | $2,000,000,000 AUD | |
| 2011 | Flood | 2011 Wollongong floods | 0 | | | |
| 2013 | Bushfire | Tasmanian bushfires | 1 | 170+ buildings | | |
| 2013 | Bushfire | New South Wales bushfires | 1 | | | |
| 2013 | Cyclone | Cyclone Oswald | 7 | | 2,520,000,000 USD (2013) | |
| 2014 | Hailstorm | Brisbane hailstorm | 0 | | 1,100,000,000 AUD | |
| 2014 | Cyclone | Cyclone Ita | 0 | | 1,150,000,000 USD (2014) | |
| 2015 | Bushfire | Sampson Flat bushfires | 0 | | | |
| 2015 | Bushfire | Esperance bushfires | 4 | | | |
| 2015 | Bushfire | Pinery bushfire | 2 | | | |
| 2017 | Bushfire | Carwoola bushfire | 0 | 56 buildings | | |
| 2017 | Cyclone | Cyclone Debbie | 14 | | 2,730,000,000 USD (2017) | |
| 2018 | Flood | 2018 Broome flood | 0 | | | The rainfall was caused by Cyclone Joyce, which struck Broome on 12 January 2018. Another tropical low struck the area two weeks later, which delivered further rains. Cyclone Kelvin then hit on 16 February. |
| 2018 | Bushfire | Tathra bushfire | 0 | 69 homes | | |
| 2019 | Flood | 2019 Townsville flood | 5 | 1500 homes rendered uninhabitable | 1,243,000,000 | |
| 2019–2020 | Bushfire | 2019–20 bushfire season | 34 direct | 9,352 buildings 3,500 homes 5,852 outbuildings Approximately 24,300,000 hectares (60,000,000 acres) to 33,800,000 hectares (84,000,000 acres)., | 103,000,000,000 AUD | |
| 2019–2020 | Bushfire | 2019–20 bushfire season | 445 indirect (smoke inhalation) | 9,352 buildings 3,500 homes 5,852 outbuildings Approximately 24,300,000 hectares (60,000,000 acres) to 33,800,000 hectares (84,000,000 acres)., | 103,000,000,000 AUD | |
| 2021 | Bushfire | Wooroloo bushfire | 0 | 86 buildings, 10,900 hectares (27,000 acres) | | |
| 2021 | Flood | 2021 Eastern Australia floods | 3 | | A$1,000,000,000 (estimate) | A widespread weather event with heavy rain over several days caused flooding in Western Sydney and the Far North Coast, extending into South East Queensland. At least 18,000 people were evacuated. |
| 2021 | Cyclone | Cyclone Seroja | 1 | 70% of homes in Northampton and Kalbarri sustaining damage or destruction. Areas along the cyclone track receiving less but still considerable damage, including Geraldton, Morawa, Mingenew, Mullewa, Perenjori down to Merredin. | $200m AUD estimate in Western Australia | Significant damage to the towns of Northampton and Kalbarri in Western Australia with 70% of homes sustaining damage or destruction. |
| 2022 | Cyclone | Cyclone Seth | 2 | | | |
| 2022 | Flood | 2022 eastern Australia floods | 28 | | $4,800,000,000 | |
| 2022 | Flood | 2022 New South Wales floods | 1 | | $379 million (2022 USD) | |
| 2022 | Flood | 2022 south eastern Australia floods | 7 | | | |
| 2022 - 2023 | Cyclone 2022 Kimberley floods |
| 2023 | Cyclone | 2023 Cyclone Freddy |
| 2023 | Cyclone | 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle |
| 2023 | Cyclone | 2023 Invest 94S | |