May 2004 Disasters

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

• May 1–6, southern Calif.: Six blazes raged through 20,000 acres this week. Many were evacuated from their homes and eight buildings at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony retreat burned to the ground.
• May 4, Athens, Greece: Three bombs exploded in Athens just 100 days before the start of the Olympics, causing increased concern about security for the games. There were no serious injuries.
• May 18, Philippines: Typhoon Nida, the fourth to hit the Philippines this year, killed more than 25 people.
• May 18–26, Dominican Republic and Haiti: Several days of torrential rains caused the Soliel River, which runs through both countries, to overflow its banks, causing floods and mudslides that destroyed entire villages. More than 3000 people were killed. The damage was particularly devastating in Haiti because of massive deforestation and poorly built homes.
• May 19, Dallas, Tex.: 2 freight trains collided derailing 20 cars, killing one person.
• May 23, Chandpur, Bangladesh: A storm on the Meghna River sank 2 ferries, killing more than 200 people.
• May 23, Paris, France: A section of a new terminal at Charles DeGaulle airport collapsed killing 4 people and injuring 3. The terminal, built a year ago at the cost of $900 million dollars, was an unconventional design of glass and concrete tubes. Preliminary reports blame problems with the concrete.
• May 28, Iran: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Northern Iran killed 35 people.
• May 29–30; midwest, U.S.: Over the Memorial Day weekend tornadoes, high winds, and heavy thunderstorms from Louisiana to the Great Lakes killed 10 people, closed roads, caused power outages, flooded towns, and destroyed homes and buildings.

See also Major Earthquakes Around the World 2004

See also Estimated Deaths from Earthquakes, 2004

See also Recent Volcanic Activity