the deadliest blizzard in recorded history
took place in 1972
and it happened in a place you might not
even think possible
Iran
entire villages were buried in snow
crushing cars and causing buildings to collapse
despite being stupidly hot in the summer
southern Iran is usually cold and snowy in winter
but January of 1972 was unusual
after a series of storms
a large blizzard had gathered in Azerbaijan
and was making it's way towards Iran
in it's path the blizzard left more than 26 feet of snow
that's roughly 2 and a half stories of snowfall
and when it reached Iran it became a crisis
almost all of western Iran was covered in snow
something the country has never seen on that scale
200 villages were destroyed
often with no survivors
those who did escape immediate death then had to face
minus 25 degree temperatures
in Fahrenheit that's minus 13
and with the blizzard still raging
any attempt to rescue survivors was put on hold
on finally reaching the rural villages affected by the storm
it took days to dig through the snow
quite a lot all they found were frozen bodies
and not only that
YouTube was also down
before the true scope of destruction could be revealed
rescuers had to wait for the snow to melt
but with Iran being a brutal dictatorship at the time
very little information about the disaster is available
what we do know is at least 4000 people died
far more than any other blizzard on record
of the ten deadliest blizzards
seven of them were in North America
but even their combined death toll is less than the 1972 blizzard
the only other blizzard that comes close is remembered more as a military disaster
it was 1719 and Sweden was at war with Russia
at the time Sweden ruled over a vast empire
but after 18 years of fighting had grown weak and divided
with the war against Russia going badly
they panicked and invaded Norway
a force of 10 thousand Swedes marched into Norway
but they were under supplied and battered by a cold winter
then the Swedish king died
and the surviving 6 thousand were ordered to retreat to Sweden
starving and desperate
they decided to take the shortest route available
a precarious mountain pass
then just as things could not get any worse
a blizzard hit
you'd think Scandinavians would be unaffected by a blizzard
but even they are technically human
and suffered greatly during the storm
being high in the mountains there was nowhere to hide from the blizzard
on the first night alone 200 people died from the cold
then with the storm still raging the next day the army scattered
while many continued on towards Sweden
around 3 thousand chose to stay on the mountain
as you'd expect the ones who stayed all froze to death
which honestly was the only logical outcome
but it wasn't much better for the men who left
during the night they had burned almost everything possible
including the wood from their sleds and rifle butts
the horses died and most of their equipment
had to be abandoned on the way
so as they walked on a trail of frozen bodies was left behind
by the end another 7 hundred had died
bringing the total to 3,700
of the survivors hundreds were wounded by frostbite
and left unfit for military service
now remembered as the Carolean death march
it actually began on Christmas eve
so this Christmas when you're surrounded by annoying relatives
remember it could be worse
you could be dead
and Swedish