48 Hours

Nature's Fury (12x3)

Air date: Oct 01, 1998

After ravaging parts of the Caribbean and Florida, Hurricane Georges recharged and slammed into the Gulf of Mexico, flooding the Gulf Coast with rain measured in feet instead of inches. Property damage from the storm -- which once packed 174 mile-an-hour gusts -- are expected to reach the $2 billion mark. With at least 300 confirmed dead in the Caribbean, the human costs are incalculable. But even with such grisly statistics, Hurricane Georges was by no means the most powerful or costly storm to blow through this part of the world. And even in a field as unpredictable as the weather, it is a virtual certainty that the coming years will bring more hurricanes, more damage and more death. What causes these monstrous storms to form? If a hurricane were headed your way, would you know what to do? On Thursday, CBS News 48 Hours took an in-depth look at hurricanes and the path of misery left in their wake.