Perfect Storms: Disasters That Changed The World

1900. The island city of Galveston, Texas is on the verge of greatness. Nicknamed the New York of the South, it boasts the second most millionaires per capita of any city in the nation. Then, everything changes. On September 8th a massive category 4 hurricane makes landfall. Warnings about the approaching storm have been ignored. When the only bridge to the mainland is wiped out, the cityʼs 37,000 inhabitants are trapped. The next morning, 8,000 – 10,000 are dead. It remains the deadliest natural disaster to ever strike the United States.

536 AD. Somewhere in the world, a massive explosion occurs, sending billions of tons of dust and ash into the upper atmosphere. In the months that follow, global temperatures drop, crops fail, famine spreads and bubonic plague awakens. The impact is massive: the great empires of the ancient world wither or die and a new era emerges: the Dark Ages. To this day scientists still debate the origin of the explosion that changed the world. Did a meteorite or comet slam into the earth? Or was it a massive volcanic eruption? In 2012, our cameras were there for the discovery of incredible new evidence that could identify the culprit and solve the riddle behind one of the greatest mysteries of all time.

September 1, 1923. An 7.9 magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Japan. The shockwaves devastate Tokyo, Yokohama and surrounding areas. In the rubble, thousands of fires break out and are quickly whipped into a firestorm, aided by strong winds from a typhoon lurking offshore. In a downtown open space where earthquake survivors had taken refuge, the firestorm triggers an extremely rare “dragon twister” - a tornado filled with burning debris - which kills an astounding 38,000 in just 15 minutes. Known as the Great Kanto Earthquake, this disaster remains the deadliest in Japanese history, killing between 120,000 to 140,000 people. In the political and social chaos that follows, Japan is set on a new militaristic path towards the Second World War.

9 A.D. Three Roman Legions are ambushed and wiped out in a remote German forest during a massive thunderstorm. The severed head of Roman General Varus is sent back to Rome in a box and the Roman attempt to bring Germania into the Empire is stopped dead in its tracks. The battle helps create the boundary between Latin and Germanic Europe that exists to this day.

1755. A powerful earthquake shakes the city of Lisbon for an astonishing 5-6 minutes. Survivors climb out of the rubble and flee to the riverbank only to be engulfed by a massive tsunami. Then the fires start. The city burns for eight days. Tens of thousands die and Portugal is crippled as an imperial power; but out of the rubble new ideas and scientific study take route. Helping to usher in a new age, The Enlightenment.

1941. Two gargantuan armies collide on battlefields west of Moscow. Calling the shots are two dictators. For the Nazis: Adolf Hitler. For the Soviets: Joseph Stalin. Both men ignore the advice of generals and insist on victory at any cost. Caught in the middle: an astonishing seven million soldiers. It is the largest battle in human history and perhaps the most consequential. By mid-October the Soviets are on the verge of collapse, but when “General Mud” and “General Cold” arrive a few weeks later, the Nazi advance is stopped dead in its tracks.