Thailand Floods and a Year of Natural Disasters

2011 has been marked by a series of natural disasters around the world.

From the tsunami that hit Japan to the floods in Thailand to earthquakes in New Zealand, hundreds of thousands of people saw tragedy, loss and devastation on a huge scale.

Thailand is still reeling from the terrible floods that began during the summer rainy season and continued into December.

Hundreds of people died and more than 12.8 million were affected by the floods. Ten of thousands of people lost their jobs as farmland was swamped and factories were forced to close.

Cost of the damage reached 1,444 billion baht (£27.8 billion), according to a World Bank estimate.

Some areas of the country are still underwater, hampering recovery efforts.

Other major natural disasters included the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, flooding in Australia, Brazil and the Philippines, Hurricane Irene in the northeastern United States, the drought in the Horn of Africa, and earthquakes at the beginning and end of the year in Christchurch, New Zealand.