The 20 natural disasters that displaced the most people in 2012

by Emily Babay

Published May 14, 2013, 11:08 a.m. ET

A new report says a total of 776,000 people were displaced by Hurricane Sandy last year in the United States, with New Jersey and New York among the hardest-hit states.

How does that compare with other natural disasters? The Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has the answers. In total, the organization's report says, 32.4 million people had to flee their homes in 2012 due to storms, earthquakes, floods and other weather events.

Here are the 20 disasters that displaced the most people:

1. Monsoon floods in India (June-July); 6,900,000 displaced
2. Rainy season floods in Nigeria; 6,089,000 displaced
3. Typhoon Haikui floods in China; 2,079,000 displaced
4. Monsoon floods in India (August-September); 2,000,000 displaced
5. Typhoon Pablo in the Philippines; 1,932,000 displaced
6. Monsoon floods in Pakistan; 1,857,000 displaced
7. Philippines floods - southwest monsoon and typhoon effects; 1,553,000 displaced
8. Monsoon floods in China (June-July); 1,420,000 displaced
9. Twin typhoons Saola and Damrey/floods in China; 867,000 displaced
10. Hurricane Sandy in the United States; 776,000 displaced
11. Monsoon floods in Bangladesh; 600,000 displaced
12. Typhoon Kai-Tak in China; 530,00 displaced
13. Rainy season floods in Niger; 530,00 displaced
14. Rainy season floods in Chad; 500,000 displaced
15. Monsoon floods in China (April-May); 443,000 displaced
16. Hurricane Sandy in Cuba; 343,000 displaced
17. Rainy season floods in South Sudan; 340,000 displaced
18. Floods and landslides in Japan; 250,000 displaced
19. Monsoon floods in North Korea; 212,000 displaced
20. Cyclonic storm Nilam in India; 210,000 displaced