Extreme weather can test us at the best of times. We look at how humans have dealt with the most severe elements in 2017.

In July a number of people were evacuated from their homes after a sinkhole opened up in Tampa, Florida. Starting off the size of a small swimming pool the hole grew to around 250 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep in just a few hours. Two houses were completely destroyed with many more still under threat. Sinkholes occur when acidic rainwater seeps through the surface of the soil, eventually reaching a soluble bedrock, which is then dissolved.

After the devastating consequences of Hurricane Maria in September, while conducting search and rescue, the CBP Air and Marine Operations Black Hawk located this home with 'HELP' painted on its roof.

Dhaka was attacked by monsoons and flooding in July. With most of the city underwater, a lot of the locals get around by jumping from surface to surface.

A man carrying a gallon of water and food, trudges through the snow after roads were cut off during exceptionally heavy winter storms in Big Bear, California during January.

The biggest rainfall since 1890 hit Southern Norway in October causing huge damage from floods. This cabin in Kristiansand has been moored to keep it from floating away.

Villagers used floods in Kalasin, Thailand to their advantage. More water brings more fish for them to catch.

A home near Orange, Southeast Texas is surrounded by floodwater after torrential rains caused by Hurricane Harvey on August 31.

Floods in the town of Mandra, Greece, caused severe damage and left 14 people dead after heavy overnight rainfall on November 15. This shop owner is sweeping out her small store.

A carpenter covers a window in South Carolina in preparation for Hurricane Irma on September 7. The hurricane had already caused devastation in the Caribbean with 185mph winds.

A New Yorker cools down as he struggles in 90°F heat in June. The city had three days of peak temperatures, officially making it a heatwave.

The Rimac River in Lima burst its banks in mid March, causing heavy rain and landslides. This shows an evacuated house being over taken by the flood water which is full of debris. The disaster lead to the deaths of at least 79 people with 267 injuries.

A woman's hair is blown by the wind on the seafront at Aberystwyth, Wales after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain in late February.

Firefighters fought tirelessly to stop a forest fire reaching the village of Figueiro dos Vinhos, Portugal on June 18.