6
A Lake Murdered 1,746 People Overnight
Ask any neighbor of a serial killer, and they'll likely tell you he was quiet, unassuming, always keeping to himself, or all of the above. So it might not come as a surprise that lakes are nature's serial killers. They're all nice and calm, until one day they snap and suffocate a bunch of people.
Lake Nyos, located in Cameroon, is a crater lake. Created by volcanic activity, it stores insanely high amounts of carbon dioxide underneath its surface. That typically isn't a problem, as the fluidity of the water usually gets rid of the poison queefs before they can bubble up. But Lake Nyos is very still -- it keeps to itself, you might say. So for hundreds of years, the gas kept building up underwater, waiting for an excuse to let rip.
United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
Silent but deadly. Literally.
Nobody knows what triggered it, but on August 21st, 1986, the lake exploded -- actually exploded. A column of water over 300 feet high erupted into the air, and with it, enough gas to cause a small genocide. Hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide shat out at 60 miles an hour, while a mini-tsunami of water cascaded down at the same time. When the air cleared, 1,746 people were dead. The nearby town of Nyos had 800 residents, and only six survived the lakesplosion.
In 2001, French scientists finally figured out a way to make sure Lake Nyos would never kill again. The bottom of the lake now hosts pipes that carry a constant stream of gas far away. Plus, an alarm system has also been installed to warn the lakeside villages in case the silent killer returns, giving them some time to sprint 15 miles to avoid being lake-farted to death.
5
A Hurricane In The Great Lakes Killed Hundreds Of People And Wrecked Dozens Of Ships
We know some unexpected things can occur in the Great Lakes region. Mirages, lake effect snow, spontaneous combustion -- the area has its own weather and temperament. But we tend to ignore how bad it can get because everyone warning us has such a goshdarned sweet accent. But not even all the "Hey now"s in the world could have saved these Midwesterners in 1913, when the White Hurricane killed over a hundred people and destroyed a bunch of ships.
Also called "The November Witch" (which is the Midwestern C-word), this winter storm was unlike any the captains on the Great Lakes had ever seen. It was an "extratropical cyclone," which is what happens when a blizzard sticks its icicle into the low-pressure center of another major storm front nearby, creating a ghoulish child of hurricane-force gales, whiteouts, and colossal waves.
Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston
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