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.
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. |
| 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 | 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 |