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{{Short description|Weather phenomenon in Egypt}}
{{Infobox event
| image =
| caption =
| time =
| timezone =
| duration =
| date = 2 November 1994
| venue =
| location = Dronka, Asyut Governorate, [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]]
| coordinates = {{coord|27.2|31.0|display=inline,title}}
| also_known_as =
| type = Fire and flood
| cause = [[Physics:Lightning strike|Lightning strike]]
| reported deaths = 469
| reported injuries =
| reported missing =
| reported property damage = More than 200 houses destroyed
| displaced = 20,000 people
}}
On 2 November 1994, a [[Physics:Lightning strike|lightning strike]] ignited three [[Chemistry:Diesel fuel|diesel]] and aircraft fuel tanks belonging to the Egyptian Army strategic reserve near the village of Dronka, Asyut Governorate in [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]]. The lightning was part of a severe storm that caused heavy flash flooding and widespread damage in four governorates in [[Place:Upper Egypt|Upper Egypt]] leading to hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of people made homeless in one of Egypt's worst urban disasters.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name="wmo" />

== Floods and strike ==
On 2 November 1994, a five-hour [[Physics:Thunderstorm|thunderstorm]] led to [[Earth:Flash flood|flash floods]] that affected 124 villages in the four governorates of Asyut, Sohag, Qena and Luxor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Egypt - Floods Nov 1994 UN DHA Situation Reports 1-4 - Egypt {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/egypt/egypt-floods-nov-1994-un-dha-situation-reports-1-4 |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=reliefweb.int |date=4 November 1994 |language=en}}</ref>

Near the village of Dronka, Asyut, the flooding of a Western Desert [[Earth:Ravine|ravine]] coincided with a [[Astronomy:Lightning|lightning]] strike that hit at {{cvt|78.6|m|ft}} elevation at {{coord|27.2|31.0|display=inline}} near Dronka,<ref name="wmo">{{cite web |title=World: Highest Mortality Lightning |url=https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-highest-mortality-lightning |website=World Meteorological Organization's World Weather & Climate Extremes Archive |access-date=2 February 2022}}</ref> which was near a complex of eight oil tanks maintained by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation as a strategic reserve for the Egyptian Army.<ref name="indy">{{cite news |date=3 November 1994 |title=Flood of blazing oil kills 300 villagers |language=en |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/flood-of-blazing-oil-kills-300-villagers-1439754.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/flood-of-blazing-oil-kills-300-villagers-1439754.html |archive-date=2022-05-01}} </ref> The tanks were spaced around {{cvt|65|yd|-1|disp=flip}} apart and three of them caught fire.<ref name="indy" /> Around {{cvt|15000|tonne|LT}} of oil leaked from the tanks; there was no bund wall or any secondary confinement in place to contain the oil,<ref name="hse">{{cite report | last = WS Atkins Consultants Ltd | date = 2001 | title = Effects of secondary containment on source term modelling | url = https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2001/crr01324.pdf | pages=((C{{hyphen}}6{{ndash}}C{{hyphen}}7)) | docket = HSE Contract Research Report 2001/324 | access-date = 2 February 2022 | quote = 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.}}</ref> 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.<ref name="wmo" />

== 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.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Egypt - Floods Nov 1994 UN DHA Situation Reports 1-4 - Egypt {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/egypt/egypt-floods-nov-1994-un-dha-situation-reports-1-4 |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=reliefweb.int |date=4 November 1994 |language=en}}</ref> In addition, 23,531 [[Feddan|feddans]] (approx. 12,000ha) of agricultural land were devastated, and total damage exceeded $140 million.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Egypt - Floods Nov 1994 UN DHA Situation Reports 1-4 - Egypt {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/egypt/egypt-floods-nov-1994-un-dha-situation-reports-1-4 |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=reliefweb.int |date=4 November 1994 |language=en}}</ref>

The losses were concentrated in the village of Dronka, Asyut, where the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population report noted that 469 bodies were recovered from there alone, and the [[Organization:World Meteorological Organization|World Meteorological Organization]] (WMO) considers this figure to be the death toll.<ref name="wmo" /> 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.<ref name="indy" />

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).<ref name=wmo/> The highest death toll directly caused by a single lightning strike is 21 people killed while sheltering in a hut in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |title=WMO certifies two megaflash lightning records |url=https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-certifies-two-megaflash-lightning-records |website=World Meteorological Organization |access-date=2 February 2022 |language=en |date=31 January 2022}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}{{Floods in Africa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dronka lightning strike, 1994}}
[[Category:Lightning]]

{{Sourceattribution|1994 Dronka floods and lightning strike}}

Physics:1994 Dronka floods and lightning strike - Revision history

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