Anatomy of Disaster

This episode features a journey into the dangerous worlds of brush and forest fire. We'll explore why they happen, meet the survivors and celebrate the brave individuals who battle these storms of flame.

This episode shows close encounters with weather's most violent special effects and explains the inner workings of supercell storm phenomena, which are as magnificent as they are terrifying.

First there's the sound of a thundering freight train. Then the shaking begins. As the motion intensifies, walls wobble and the ground heaves. This episode explores devastating seismic events and the tectonic forces that cause them.

First earthquakes, then a thunderous roar as a mountain splits open and a lightning-lit cloud roars downhill, scorching everything its path. This episode looks at the forces unleashed when the safety valve on the earth's pressure cooker blows.

People trapped in a building filled with flames desperately jump to escape being burned alive. This episode explores why urban fires happen, how they kill and who stands in their way.

Towering many miles high and covering several thousand square miles, a hurricane rotates around its calm central eye, bringing death and destruction as it reaches land. This episode focuses on what happens when hurricanes hit human habitation.

A cloudburst, a wall of muddy water and nearly everything is swept away. This is the power of a flash flood.