Most non-water floods (excluding mudflows, oil spills, or volcanic lahars) involve storage facilities suddenly releasing liquids, or industrial retaining reservoirs releasing toxic waste. Storage facility incidents usually cover a small area but can be catastrophic in cities. For example, a molasses tank failure in 1919 led to the Great Molasses Flood that killed 21 people in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.[1]
Industrial retaining reservoirs are often used to store toxic waste, and when they fail they can flood a large area, causing physical and environmental damage. The 2010 failure of a reservoir at the Ajka alumina plant in Hungary flooded a small town and killed several, while the cleanup from the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant spill in Tennessee, U.S. took several years and killed at least 40 workers involved.
| Name | Date | Composition of flood | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Beer Flood | October 1814 | Beer | London, England | |
| Dublin whiskey fire | June 1875 | Whiskey | Dublin, Ireland | |
| Great Molasses Flood | January 1919 | Molasses | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| Rockwood & Company shipping department fire | May 1919 | Molten chocolate and butter | New York City, U.S. | |
| Church Rock uranium mill spill | July 1979 | Uranium tailings | Church Rock, New Mexico, U.S. | |
| Wisconsin butter flood | May 1991 | Butter, cheese, and processed meat | Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | |
| Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill | December 2008 | Coal byproducts mixed with water | Kingston, Tennessee, U.S. | |
| Ajka alumina plant accident | October 2010 | Bauxite residue mixed with water (caustic sludge, red in color) | Ajka, Hungary | |
| Mariana dam disaster | November 2015 | Tailings mixed with water | Mariana, Brazil | |
| Pepsi fruit juice flood | April 2017 | Various juices | Lebedyan, Russia | |
| Levira Distiller wine flood | September 2023 | Red wine | São Lourenço do Bairro, Portugal |