1 00:00:05,972 --> 00:00:08,566 This is the bottom of the ocean 2 00:00:08,708 --> 00:00:13,236 - an ocean of air as vast and volatile as any sea. 3 00:00:24,758 --> 00:00:28,387 Above the earth's surface, currents ebb and flow. 4 00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:33,556 Some spiral into whirlwinds. 5 00:00:39,806 --> 00:00:42,639 The dust devil has more bluster than bite. 6 00:00:44,044 --> 00:00:46,808 Other twisters are downright deadly. 7 00:00:54,020 --> 00:00:55,988 Tornado on the ground on highway 44! 8 00:00:56,122 --> 00:00:56,918 Damage everywhere. 9 00:00:57,057 --> 00:00:58,820 We've got numerous people injured! 10 00:01:04,130 --> 00:01:05,358 Get away from the windows! 11 00:01:05,498 --> 00:01:10,367 Tree just blew over! Get away from the windows! 12 00:01:10,503 --> 00:01:12,698 Get away! Get away! 13 00:01:13,740 --> 00:01:17,198 Tornadoes pack the fastest winds on earth. 14 00:01:18,211 --> 00:01:22,773 But in magnitude, this spinning giant goes unmatched. 15 00:01:44,704 --> 00:01:50,336 Hurricane, typhoon, cyclone all equally fearsome. 16 00:01:50,710 --> 00:01:54,271 By any name, the greatest storms on earth. 17 00:02:05,525 --> 00:02:10,053 Severe tropical storms afflict every continent except Antarctica. 18 00:02:12,332 --> 00:02:16,701 In this century, they have claimed over half a million lives. 19 00:02:19,139 --> 00:02:23,405 Tornadoes have killed over 10,000 in the United States alone. 20 00:02:30,984 --> 00:02:33,851 Today, electronic eyes pierce the atmosphere, 21 00:02:33,987 --> 00:02:36,455 and map its shifting winds. 22 00:02:38,057 --> 00:02:40,582 Scientists chart the anatomy of a storm. 23 00:02:40,727 --> 00:02:44,094 Their sensors record speed and bearing. 24 00:02:45,999 --> 00:02:48,263 Make yours the same level as the tripod. 25 00:02:49,135 --> 00:02:52,571 But none can predict the birth of a killer. 26 00:02:53,006 --> 00:02:54,473 That thing's a right mover! 27 00:03:00,146 --> 00:03:02,706 We gotta get out of here, fast! Let's go! 28 00:03:02,849 --> 00:03:08,310 Nothing in our power can stop the fury of Nature's whirling winds. 29 00:03:58,171 --> 00:04:02,005 Early spring, 1991. 30 00:04:02,609 --> 00:04:06,545 A southern sun heats the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 31 00:04:11,184 --> 00:04:13,709 Warm, moist air rises, 32 00:04:13,853 --> 00:04:17,152 and travels northwest, over Texas, Louisiana, 33 00:04:17,290 --> 00:04:20,123 and on toward the central United States. 34 00:04:24,897 --> 00:04:26,558 More than a thousand miles away, 35 00:04:26,699 --> 00:04:30,635 cool dry air rushes south from Canada. 36 00:04:37,110 --> 00:04:38,509 Rising over the Rockies, 37 00:04:38,645 --> 00:04:44,481 dry upper level air flows east, then spills onto the Great Plains. 38 00:04:47,553 --> 00:04:54,686 These forces collide over Tornado Alley on Friday, April 26th, 1991. 39 00:04:55,495 --> 00:04:59,829 Fast winds high above the ground, over slower winds below, 40 00:04:59,966 --> 00:05:04,733 make the air roll horizontally, like a pencil on a table top. 41 00:05:08,708 --> 00:05:11,040 The atmosphere is unstable. 42 00:05:11,611 --> 00:05:15,206 Thunderstorms erupt across the plains. 43 00:05:18,051 --> 00:05:22,112 Here and there, an updraft lifts the horizontal spinning of the air 44 00:05:22,255 --> 00:05:24,485 into a vertical position. 45 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:33,221 Now the storm rotates as it feeds on warm, moist air near the ground. 46 00:05:34,801 --> 00:05:37,361 The day gives rise to "supercells" 47 00:05:37,503 --> 00:05:41,564 - the most complex and dangerous thunderstorms on earth. 48 00:05:44,844 --> 00:05:47,677 Their underbellies bubble with instability. 49 00:05:53,953 --> 00:05:56,979 Lightning and hail are the least of their threats. 50 00:05:57,123 --> 00:06:01,992 Under the right conditions, they can also spawn monsters. 51 00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:07,959 The National Weather Service has tracked the warning signs 52 00:06:08,101 --> 00:06:11,537 for a week, predicting severe weather. 53 00:06:15,475 --> 00:06:18,808 By April 26th, conditions are text-book perfect 54 00:06:18,945 --> 00:06:21,812 for a major outbreak of tornadoes. 55 00:06:30,556 --> 00:06:34,014 Throughout the afternoon and evening, across the central states, 56 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,651 fifty-six twisters are reported. 57 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:42,565 Honey, be careful. 58 00:06:43,669 --> 00:06:45,534 Is it going away from us? 59 00:06:46,305 --> 00:06:47,567 Honey. 60 00:06:49,242 --> 00:06:51,767 Honey. Is it going away from us? 61 00:06:56,249 --> 00:06:57,978 I sure hope you're right. 62 00:06:59,719 --> 00:07:04,679 Then, at 5:57 a killer touches down in ansas. 63 00:07:10,129 --> 00:07:12,563 In Wichita, residents are sitting down to dinner 64 00:07:12,698 --> 00:07:16,794 when warnings send them running to basements and storm shelters. 65 00:07:18,604 --> 00:07:21,300 Look at this stuff floating in the air, Ginger. 66 00:07:21,874 --> 00:07:23,341 Take cover! 67 00:07:25,378 --> 00:07:28,973 Around 6:20, the tornado takes on a pinkish hue 68 00:07:29,115 --> 00:07:32,778 as it pulverizes a nursery full of geraniums. 69 00:07:47,266 --> 00:07:49,257 By the time it hits McConnell Air Force Base, 70 00:07:49,402 --> 00:07:52,701 the twister is nearly 300 feet wide. 71 00:08:39,886 --> 00:08:42,787 The base hospital, school, rec center 72 00:08:42,922 --> 00:08:46,050 and over a hundred housing units are leveled. 73 00:08:48,961 --> 00:08:52,829 6:29. In Andover, the town siren fails, 74 00:08:52,965 --> 00:08:56,992 but most residents heed warnings by police, and news reports. 75 00:09:01,574 --> 00:09:05,874 The tornado's funnel has widened to almost 600 feet. 76 00:09:07,580 --> 00:09:11,846 At 6:40, it tears through the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park. 77 00:09:15,288 --> 00:09:18,780 The twister finally dissipates northeast of Andover. 78 00:09:19,191 --> 00:09:22,251 Within minutes, its parent storm drops another funnel 79 00:09:22,395 --> 00:09:24,625 along the ansas Turnpike. 80 00:09:26,132 --> 00:09:27,429 Can you get in the left lane, Greg? 81 00:09:27,567 --> 00:09:28,727 Yah! 82 00:09:28,868 --> 00:09:30,597 I'll like you know this go away. 83 00:09:30,736 --> 00:09:32,226 You're okay, you're okay. 84 00:09:34,674 --> 00:09:36,266 Eep going', man. Eep going'. 85 00:09:36,409 --> 00:09:37,933 Faster? No. 86 00:09:38,077 --> 00:09:40,011 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 87 00:09:40,146 --> 00:09:42,341 Lots faster. Lots faster! 88 00:09:42,481 --> 00:09:45,678 A local TV crew tries to outrun it. 89 00:09:46,852 --> 00:09:48,979 Lots faster, Greg. It's catching us. 90 00:09:49,121 --> 00:09:50,713 You gotta go buddy! 91 00:09:52,058 --> 00:09:56,586 Even at 85 miles an hour, they can't get out of its way. 92 00:10:00,132 --> 00:10:01,429 They stop at an overpass 93 00:10:01,567 --> 00:10:04,934 where a father and his two daughters run for cover. 94 00:10:48,481 --> 00:10:51,314 As the twister spins out its final moments, 95 00:10:51,450 --> 00:10:54,442 a dread calm takes its place. 96 00:10:56,288 --> 00:10:58,119 We need some place to sit down. 97 00:10:59,058 --> 00:11:00,150 Along the turnpike, 98 00:11:00,292 --> 00:11:05,161 people are pulled from trucks and cars tossed like children's toys. 99 00:11:09,068 --> 00:11:11,229 Andover is hardest hit. 100 00:11:11,504 --> 00:11:14,439 In what was the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park, 101 00:11:14,573 --> 00:11:16,370 ten bodies are found. 102 00:11:16,509 --> 00:11:18,739 Is anybody in there? 103 00:11:18,878 --> 00:11:21,244 Ansas bears a bitter toll: 104 00:11:21,380 --> 00:11:26,647 Over 1,700 homes destroyed or damaged, and 20 dead. 105 00:11:31,991 --> 00:11:34,619 Survivors will never forget. 106 00:11:37,329 --> 00:11:39,092 The car was hovering. 107 00:11:39,231 --> 00:11:42,098 It was about three foot off the ground, 108 00:11:42,234 --> 00:11:44,862 and just sort of floating in the air. 109 00:11:45,871 --> 00:11:51,104 Then all of a sudden the car left, and went right out the roof. 110 00:11:53,512 --> 00:11:56,379 What looked like typing paper floating around was really not, 111 00:11:56,515 --> 00:11:58,608 it was like Garage doors. 112 00:11:58,751 --> 00:12:02,084 Garage doors and window frames, parts of houses. 113 00:12:03,823 --> 00:12:05,654 Ambushed on a country road, 114 00:12:05,791 --> 00:12:09,283 Brook lbarra took shelter under the nearest tree. 115 00:12:09,428 --> 00:12:14,730 In a flash, she was airborne... then dropped a thousand feet away. 116 00:12:15,634 --> 00:12:18,762 The cows all of a sudden started running like a stampede. 117 00:12:18,904 --> 00:12:25,104 I was picked up by the tornado and there was all sorts of debris. 118 00:12:25,244 --> 00:12:28,077 One thing I remember was the cow that flew past me. 119 00:12:28,214 --> 00:12:29,772 He was screaming. 120 00:12:30,616 --> 00:12:33,608 And then, before I knew it, it was over. 121 00:12:33,753 --> 00:12:37,712 I was just laying in the field next to a tractor engine. 122 00:12:38,591 --> 00:12:40,149 Wounds are healed. 123 00:12:40,292 --> 00:12:45,696 Neighborhoods rise from the rubble. The human spirit endures. 124 00:12:45,831 --> 00:12:49,790 Such is life in Tornado Alley, USA. 125 00:12:52,772 --> 00:12:55,502 Midwesterners once called them "cyclones". 126 00:12:55,641 --> 00:12:56,630 Early photographs 127 00:12:56,776 --> 00:13:00,007 and motion pictures held viewers spellbound. 128 00:13:00,846 --> 00:13:02,780 Tornadoes begat their own myths. 129 00:13:02,915 --> 00:13:05,884 Some claimed they fused coins in people's pockets, 130 00:13:06,018 --> 00:13:08,350 and cooked potatoes in the ground. 131 00:13:08,788 --> 00:13:12,918 In truth, they make airborne missiles of everyday objects. 132 00:13:14,727 --> 00:13:18,390 Some have deposited heirlooms forty miles from home. 133 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:23,727 Do they pluck feathers from chickens? 134 00:13:23,869 --> 00:13:27,066 No. Blame that on sheer fright. 135 00:13:29,775 --> 00:13:32,767 They inspire no less terror in people. 136 00:13:33,512 --> 00:13:36,345 April 3rd and 4th, 1974. 137 00:13:36,482 --> 00:13:43,320 In the largest outbreak on record, 148 tornadoes race across 13 states. 138 00:13:46,392 --> 00:13:48,553 March 18th, 1925. 139 00:13:48,694 --> 00:13:52,596 The deadliest tornado in history leaves the longest path. 140 00:13:52,731 --> 00:13:58,931 219 miles of continuous devastation. 689 dead. 141 00:14:02,208 --> 00:14:07,339 Until the 1950's, accurate tornado wind speeds remain a mystery. 142 00:14:07,713 --> 00:14:12,309 Then a frame-by-frame analysis of this footage clocks flying debris 143 00:14:12,451 --> 00:14:15,386 at 170 miles an hour. 144 00:14:18,991 --> 00:14:22,586 Tornado science takes a leap forward in 1953 145 00:14:22,728 --> 00:14:26,664 when Dr. Ted Fujita leaves Japan for the American Midwest. 146 00:14:26,799 --> 00:14:31,566 Main reason why we are here is to find out what tornado did. 147 00:14:31,704 --> 00:14:34,901 And in case of future tornadoes what people should do. 148 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,508 That's the kind of thing we want to find out. 149 00:14:38,244 --> 00:14:42,806 Four decades of research will earn him the title "Mr. Tornado." 150 00:14:42,948 --> 00:14:45,644 I think it's a grain elevator up there. 151 00:14:45,784 --> 00:14:48,150 At disaster sites, Fujita proves 152 00:14:48,287 --> 00:14:52,724 there's much to be learned without braving a twister directly. 153 00:14:53,158 --> 00:14:54,921 He likens tornadoes to criminals 154 00:14:55,060 --> 00:14:57,722 who leave their fingerprints behind. 155 00:14:58,264 --> 00:14:59,663 Ground markings are clues 156 00:14:59,798 --> 00:15:02,926 to a twister's inner structure and dynamics. 157 00:15:08,207 --> 00:15:09,435 To test his theories, 158 00:15:09,575 --> 00:15:13,534 he builds a tornado machine at the University of Chicago. 159 00:15:13,879 --> 00:15:16,109 He discovers that most strong tornadoes 160 00:15:16,248 --> 00:15:18,648 are actually several small twisters 161 00:15:18,784 --> 00:15:21,810 rotating around the center of a larger one. 162 00:15:22,154 --> 00:15:25,351 These mini-tornadoes can lay waste to one house, 163 00:15:25,491 --> 00:15:28,221 yet leave its neighbor unscathed. 164 00:15:31,964 --> 00:15:35,297 Fujita's ideas have been amply confirmed in Nature, 165 00:15:35,434 --> 00:15:38,767 and remain a cornerstone of tornado science. 166 00:15:43,642 --> 00:15:45,940 Although they occur around the world, 167 00:15:46,078 --> 00:15:51,311 three out of four tornadoes streak the skies over the United States. 168 00:15:51,850 --> 00:15:57,186 They favor the springtime, and the warm hours between noon and sunset. 169 00:15:57,923 --> 00:16:00,391 We say a tornado "touches down". 170 00:16:00,526 --> 00:16:02,824 It actually sucks in air from near the ground 171 00:16:02,962 --> 00:16:05,658 and carries it upward in a spiral. 172 00:16:08,567 --> 00:16:12,196 Most range from 150 to 1200 feet in width, 173 00:16:12,338 --> 00:16:15,671 and travel over land at about 30 miles an hour. 174 00:16:22,181 --> 00:16:23,910 The funnel is often hollow, 175 00:16:24,049 --> 00:16:25,846 a tube of condensed water vapor 176 00:16:25,985 --> 00:16:29,216 that takes on the color of dust and debris. 177 00:16:32,424 --> 00:16:36,918 In North America, most tornadoes rotate counterclockwise. 178 00:16:37,196 --> 00:16:41,132 Perhaps one in a thousand spins in the opposite direction. 179 00:16:48,273 --> 00:16:51,174 Twisters appear in many guises. 180 00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:54,609 They can bring to mind the snapping of a bullwhip... 181 00:16:56,615 --> 00:16:59,607 or the delicate dance of ghosts. 182 00:17:08,827 --> 00:17:12,319 A single storm can spawn several distinct funnels 183 00:17:12,464 --> 00:17:15,262 - a grouping referred to as a "family." 184 00:17:17,669 --> 00:17:21,264 For all their fury, most tornadoes are short-lived. 185 00:17:21,407 --> 00:17:23,841 Many last only minutes. 186 00:17:27,446 --> 00:17:31,439 To the scientists who would study them, they are elusive prey. 187 00:17:33,118 --> 00:17:36,019 How to penetrate the twister's secrets? 188 00:17:36,355 --> 00:17:39,688 Aiming weather balloons and instrumented rockets into tornadoes 189 00:17:39,825 --> 00:17:42,191 have yielded limited results. 190 00:17:50,269 --> 00:17:55,673 All right. Three. Two. One. 191 00:17:58,410 --> 00:17:59,672 Fire! 192 00:17:59,812 --> 00:18:01,609 There! Perfe... 193 00:18:02,514 --> 00:18:03,845 No. 194 00:18:06,418 --> 00:18:10,684 In the 1980's, researchers at the National Severe Storms Lab 195 00:18:10,823 --> 00:18:15,192 tested the "totable tornado observatory", nicknamed TOTO, 196 00:18:15,327 --> 00:18:18,694 after Dorothy's dog in The Wizard of Oz. 197 00:18:19,164 --> 00:18:21,655 This four-hundred pound package of sensors 198 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,735 was to record what no human can even approach 199 00:18:24,870 --> 00:18:27,338 without risking life and limb. 200 00:18:27,473 --> 00:18:32,035 But predicting the path of a tornado proved to be nearly impossible. 201 00:18:32,177 --> 00:18:36,170 TOTO had one close call, no direct hits. 202 00:18:41,987 --> 00:18:45,286 For now, the safest way to see inside tornadoes 203 00:18:45,424 --> 00:18:48,723 is to probe them from afar with Doppler radar. 204 00:18:50,829 --> 00:18:52,194 Like an x-ray of a storm, 205 00:18:52,331 --> 00:18:55,596 the system displays wind speed and direction. 206 00:18:56,168 --> 00:18:58,693 In 1981, scientists first detected 207 00:18:58,837 --> 00:19:03,001 the spiralling signature of a tornado on Doppler radar. 208 00:19:04,443 --> 00:19:08,402 Today, the system is used to issue warnings to the public. 209 00:19:11,650 --> 00:19:16,314 Still, we're not exactly sure why twisters form at all. 210 00:19:19,358 --> 00:19:20,450 For Howard Bluestein, 211 00:19:20,592 --> 00:19:24,119 Professor of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, 212 00:19:24,263 --> 00:19:26,697 there's only one way to find out. 213 00:19:26,832 --> 00:19:29,767 Satellite pictures are nice. Radar pictures are nice. 214 00:19:29,902 --> 00:19:31,597 But you need to look out the window 215 00:19:31,737 --> 00:19:34,433 and see the clouds at a very very fine scale 216 00:19:34,573 --> 00:19:36,370 to get a feeling for what's happening. 217 00:19:36,508 --> 00:19:37,065 I don't understand 218 00:19:37,209 --> 00:19:41,407 how one can study a phenomenon without actually experiencing it. 219 00:19:41,547 --> 00:19:44,141 Seeing it or feeling it or tasting it. 220 00:19:44,283 --> 00:19:46,581 To me, that sets everything in motion. 221 00:19:46,718 --> 00:19:49,448 That makes me want to understan why it's there, 222 00:19:49,588 --> 00:19:52,523 what causes it, what's gonna happen to it. 223 00:19:58,497 --> 00:20:01,330 They just issued a tornado warning for right where we are. 224 00:20:04,903 --> 00:20:09,203 Every spring, Bluestein exercises two considerable talents: 225 00:20:09,341 --> 00:20:13,801 Chasing tornadoes, and measuring them with the latest technology. 226 00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:18,807 Portable Doppler radar is like a meteorological magnifying glass. 227 00:20:18,951 --> 00:20:23,251 It allows Bluestein to measure wind speed in very fine detail, 228 00:20:23,388 --> 00:20:26,118 in specific regions of a tornado. 229 00:20:26,792 --> 00:20:28,089 Okay, we better get going quickly. 230 00:20:28,227 --> 00:20:30,559 That thing is starting to form a nice funnel. 231 00:20:31,063 --> 00:20:32,860 Actually, hold it. Hold it. Hold it! 232 00:20:32,998 --> 00:20:34,431 Can you turn it on? 233 00:20:35,634 --> 00:20:38,125 It is starting to form a funnel and it's not that far away. 234 00:20:38,270 --> 00:20:41,262 I'm on the left side of that tight circulation. 235 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,100 Bluestein's success rate is better than most storm chasers' 236 00:20:45,244 --> 00:20:47,644 The funnel cloud is just to our north, northwest. 237 00:20:47,779 --> 00:20:48,507 We're packing up the radar... 238 00:20:48,647 --> 00:20:51,172 He estimates one in nine expeditions ends 239 00:20:51,316 --> 00:20:52,977 with an encounter. 240 00:21:18,877 --> 00:21:21,971 O, tornado is crossing the path of the radar. 241 00:21:23,482 --> 00:21:25,006 Debris in the air. 242 00:21:26,118 --> 00:21:31,181 Strong tornadoes almost always form under the southwest edge of a storm. 243 00:21:31,823 --> 00:21:33,916 Bluestein plots his course accordingly, 244 00:21:34,059 --> 00:21:38,291 and tries to place his team roughly two miles from touchdown. 245 00:21:38,430 --> 00:21:40,762 Center it right on the funnel! 246 00:21:42,501 --> 00:21:47,268 Oh, what a classic! Should I go to FM? 247 00:21:47,606 --> 00:21:50,200 Only if you have a good CW signal. 248 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,170 We're detectives. 249 00:21:56,315 --> 00:21:59,182 We're looking for lots of bits of evidence. 250 00:21:59,318 --> 00:22:01,411 And the more pieces of evidence we have, 251 00:22:01,553 --> 00:22:03,020 the more likely it will be 252 00:22:03,155 --> 00:22:06,420 that we'll be able to solve the puzzle of why tornadoes form 253 00:22:06,558 --> 00:22:08,253 and what's their structure. 254 00:22:09,227 --> 00:22:11,855 April 26th, 1991. 255 00:22:11,997 --> 00:22:14,329 Bluestein and his team track the outbreak 256 00:22:14,466 --> 00:22:16,991 that will ravage Andover, ansas. 257 00:22:22,641 --> 00:22:26,338 A spectacular funnel stops them in Red Rock, Oklahoma. 258 00:22:27,346 --> 00:22:30,975 Their Doppler radar will capture the fastest windspeed on record: 259 00:22:31,116 --> 00:22:34,051 Nearly 280 miles an hour. 260 00:22:38,990 --> 00:22:42,824 In the heat of the chase, even Bluestein can miss a beat. 261 00:22:44,763 --> 00:22:46,526 Let's get out of here fast, let's go! 262 00:22:49,401 --> 00:22:50,959 For less frenzied fieldwork, 263 00:22:51,103 --> 00:22:55,904 Bluestein turns to these hunting grounds: The Florida eys. 264 00:22:57,209 --> 00:22:59,200 August, 1993. 265 00:22:59,344 --> 00:23:02,336 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 266 00:23:02,481 --> 00:23:04,745 and the National Geographic Society 267 00:23:04,883 --> 00:23:07,909 reunite Bluestein with Dr. Joseph Golden, 268 00:23:08,053 --> 00:23:10,521 expedition chief scientist. 269 00:23:14,192 --> 00:23:15,386 As a graduate student, 270 00:23:15,527 --> 00:23:20,590 Bluestein once joined Golden to explore the skies over ey West. 271 00:23:39,384 --> 00:23:42,376 This expedition marshals state-of-the-art scientific 272 00:23:42,521 --> 00:23:44,921 and photographic technology. 273 00:23:46,258 --> 00:23:47,486 The quarry? 274 00:23:47,626 --> 00:23:51,653 A phantom twister that haunts these tranquil waters. 275 00:23:57,502 --> 00:24:00,198 In 1967, on a vacation trip, 276 00:24:00,338 --> 00:24:03,364 Golden took a sightseeing flight over the Florida eys, 277 00:24:03,508 --> 00:24:04,805 and had a chance encounter with 278 00:24:04,943 --> 00:24:08,242 one of our atmosphere's most startling apparitions. 279 00:24:08,380 --> 00:24:09,369 Since that time, 280 00:24:09,514 --> 00:24:13,974 he has become the world's leading expert on waterspouts. 281 00:24:18,056 --> 00:24:21,423 Our knowledge of these ethereal ribbons was once based largely 282 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:23,653 on mariners' accounts. 283 00:24:23,795 --> 00:24:27,959 Golden first emphasized their similarities to tornadoes. 284 00:24:44,049 --> 00:24:47,143 Though usually smaller than a twister over land. 285 00:24:47,285 --> 00:24:50,448 They form in gentler weather than most violent tornadoes, 286 00:24:50,589 --> 00:24:52,716 allowing close inspection. 287 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:58,728 Smoke flares will help visualize airflow near the sea surface. 288 00:25:03,502 --> 00:25:08,405 For Bluestein, this is an unparalleled ringside seat. 289 00:25:11,076 --> 00:25:14,477 When we're out in the great plains looking at tornadoes, 290 00:25:14,613 --> 00:25:18,811 we cannot see what's happening right at the ground very clearly, 291 00:25:18,950 --> 00:25:23,683 nor can we see what's happening at cloud base extremely clearly. 292 00:25:23,822 --> 00:25:27,724 The perspective that we get from the helicopter 293 00:25:27,859 --> 00:25:31,488 in that we can look down at the sea surface... 294 00:25:31,630 --> 00:25:35,657 and see the effect of rotation at the ground level 295 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:37,995 and also be at cloud base 296 00:25:38,136 --> 00:25:39,728 and practically kiss... 297 00:25:39,871 --> 00:25:43,807 the condensation funnel that's right outside the window 298 00:25:43,942 --> 00:25:46,342 is really spectacular. 299 00:25:46,478 --> 00:25:50,244 Ultimately, the ghostly waterspout may reveal the hidden forces 300 00:25:50,382 --> 00:25:52,247 that trigger tornadoes. 301 00:25:54,252 --> 00:25:56,686 Joe, I guess climatology works. 302 00:25:57,322 --> 00:25:59,085 That was incredible! 303 00:26:00,325 --> 00:26:04,591 Other whirling winds demand a more lofty vantage point. 304 00:26:14,906 --> 00:26:19,172 Book a seat on the Space Shuttle for the perfect view of these monsters 305 00:26:19,311 --> 00:26:23,509 - over 500 miles wide, and some ten miles high. 306 00:26:26,484 --> 00:26:27,644 Creatures of the sea, 307 00:26:27,786 --> 00:26:31,017 they breed in the warm oceans of the tropics. 308 00:26:37,662 --> 00:26:39,220 Depending on their birthplace, 309 00:26:39,364 --> 00:26:44,563 we call then 'cyclones', 'typhoons', or 'hurricanes'. 310 00:26:44,703 --> 00:26:46,068 These giants can stir up 311 00:26:46,204 --> 00:26:50,300 more than a million cubic miles of the earth's atmosphere every second, 312 00:26:50,442 --> 00:26:54,208 and travel across an ocean at up to 30 miles an hour. 313 00:26:54,879 --> 00:26:57,040 Yet they have humble beginnings. 314 00:27:00,452 --> 00:27:01,680 In the summer and fall, 315 00:27:01,820 --> 00:27:04,584 the sun heats vast stretches of tropical ocean 316 00:27:04,723 --> 00:27:07,590 to over 82 degrees Fahrenheit. 317 00:27:07,726 --> 00:27:10,889 Warm, moist air rises over these hot spots, 318 00:27:11,029 --> 00:27:13,793 forming bands of thunderstorms. 319 00:27:14,532 --> 00:27:17,467 Upper level winds push storm systems westward, 320 00:27:17,602 --> 00:27:22,301 as surface winds spiral into the low pressure beneath the clouds. 321 00:27:23,675 --> 00:27:24,437 Occasionally, 322 00:27:24,576 --> 00:27:28,034 one such spinning wheel of thunderstorms gathers strength, 323 00:27:28,179 --> 00:27:30,704 feeding on moisture and heat. 324 00:27:30,849 --> 00:27:35,650 When winds reach 74 miles an hour, a hurricane is born. 325 00:27:36,655 --> 00:27:39,783 The storm's architecture is highly organized. 326 00:27:39,924 --> 00:27:44,588 Rain bands up to 300 miles long converge in the most violent sector: 327 00:27:44,729 --> 00:27:46,219 The "eye wall". 328 00:27:46,598 --> 00:27:50,557 Here, winds of up to 200 miles an hour spiral upward. 329 00:27:50,902 --> 00:27:55,896 Within the "eye", down drafts of dry air create an eerie calm. 330 00:28:01,212 --> 00:28:04,045 Most severe tropical storms spin out their lives, 331 00:28:04,182 --> 00:28:06,707 uneventfully, in the open sea. 332 00:28:15,794 --> 00:28:17,625 When one threatens to come ashore, 333 00:28:17,762 --> 00:28:23,257 the world's eyes are trained upon it - including those of Jim Leonard. 334 00:28:25,370 --> 00:28:30,000 A professional storm chaser, Jim checks forecasts religiously. 335 00:28:30,775 --> 00:28:35,303 He prowls the globe for weather that most people would simply flee. 336 00:28:36,314 --> 00:28:39,215 Among chasers, Jim has few peers. 337 00:28:39,350 --> 00:28:43,912 Some say he has videotaped more severe storms than anyone on earth. 338 00:28:44,055 --> 00:28:48,151 He has no formal training, no college degree in meteorology. 339 00:28:48,293 --> 00:28:50,921 Just a life-long passion. 340 00:28:53,865 --> 00:28:54,729 When I was ten years old 341 00:28:54,866 --> 00:28:59,098 I had my first real hurrican experience with Hurricane Donna. 342 00:28:59,237 --> 00:29:01,637 We got probably winds of 80, 90 mile an hour. 343 00:29:01,773 --> 00:29:05,504 It was quite an exhilarating experience at that point. 344 00:29:08,346 --> 00:29:11,907 People think I'm crazy but, that's, you know, that's their own opinion. 345 00:29:12,050 --> 00:29:12,709 It's not gonna change. 346 00:29:12,851 --> 00:29:15,911 I've always been crazy about storms, I always will be. 347 00:29:17,088 --> 00:29:21,320 The best of them all, probably, was Hurricane Hugo, 348 00:29:21,459 --> 00:29:24,292 went down to Puerto Rico and got a direct hit. 349 00:29:24,429 --> 00:29:26,294 And as it got stronger and stronger, 350 00:29:26,431 --> 00:29:28,661 debris was starting to be lifted off the parking lot, 351 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,633 and it looked like it was gonna get blown back toward us. 352 00:29:31,770 --> 00:29:35,365 So we decided at that point to start going down the stairway. 353 00:29:35,507 --> 00:29:37,236 As we're going down the stairwell, 354 00:29:37,375 --> 00:29:40,640 the rain is being driven into the walls through the stairs, 355 00:29:40,779 --> 00:29:41,677 coming down the stairway. 356 00:29:41,813 --> 00:29:43,872 And the wind you see up here squealing. 357 00:29:44,015 --> 00:29:47,314 At this point it's probably in excess of 150 miles an hour. 358 00:29:47,452 --> 00:29:49,852 And that was quite an experience. 359 00:29:49,988 --> 00:29:54,152 It was like, one of the chasers called it the Hallway from Hell. 360 00:29:56,761 --> 00:29:59,628 I have no reason to be in a storm if it's gonna scare me. 361 00:29:59,764 --> 00:30:00,992 I'll, y'know, get to the point, 362 00:30:01,132 --> 00:30:06,434 y'know, y'know, play the safe route as far as I can. 363 00:30:06,571 --> 00:30:08,198 But if I want to get that ultimate shot, y'know, 364 00:30:08,339 --> 00:30:10,864 of course you're gonna take some chances. 365 00:30:14,012 --> 00:30:18,210 1992. Typhoon Omar, in Guam. 366 00:30:25,990 --> 00:30:28,049 Now is this a piece of wind or is it a piece of wind? 367 00:30:28,193 --> 00:30:32,493 Really! I wouldn't miss a great eye wall like this for anything. 368 00:30:35,133 --> 00:30:37,431 Jim and a fellow tracker have a close call 369 00:30:37,569 --> 00:30:40,333 as Omar's eye wall comes ashore. 370 00:30:43,208 --> 00:30:46,769 Now the storm's placid eye engulfs them. 371 00:30:46,911 --> 00:30:49,379 It seems over, it really does, but it's not. 372 00:30:49,514 --> 00:30:51,243 We're gonna get blitzed again. It's so eerie. I know. 373 00:30:51,382 --> 00:30:53,282 I can't believe that we're going to get blitzed again. 374 00:30:53,418 --> 00:30:58,117 It seems impossible. That was flabbergasting. 375 00:30:58,423 --> 00:31:01,153 The unsettling lull does not last. 376 00:31:01,860 --> 00:31:04,988 Here, the trailing edge of the eye wall rushes in, 377 00:31:05,129 --> 00:31:08,189 with winds blowing in the opposite direction. 378 00:31:10,201 --> 00:31:11,395 God, I didn't... no way! 379 00:31:11,536 --> 00:31:13,800 It looked like it was gonna wait a few minutes! 380 00:31:13,938 --> 00:31:14,927 It wasn't comin' on as fast. 381 00:31:15,073 --> 00:31:17,667 Yeah! If I knew it was this, I would've hurried more. 382 00:31:18,409 --> 00:31:22,038 In 1991, Jim achieves a personal best. 383 00:31:22,180 --> 00:31:23,545 Typhoon Yuri, when it came, 384 00:31:23,681 --> 00:31:24,978 approached the southern part of Guam, 385 00:31:25,116 --> 00:31:27,584 I did a little bit of carelessness there 386 00:31:27,719 --> 00:31:31,553 but I got the storm surge shots that I always wanted to get. 387 00:31:31,689 --> 00:31:34,988 The water came up a little faster than I thought it would. 388 00:31:35,126 --> 00:31:38,254 Winds and low pressure allow the sea surface to rise 389 00:31:38,396 --> 00:31:40,193 near the storm's eye. 390 00:31:40,331 --> 00:31:43,664 When it hits land, this mound of water rushes ashore. 391 00:31:43,801 --> 00:31:46,463 That's what you call storm surge! 392 00:32:01,386 --> 00:32:03,980 Great. 393 00:32:08,860 --> 00:32:10,293 Oh, great! 394 00:32:15,266 --> 00:32:18,599 When the surge is waist-deep, Jim retreats. 395 00:32:21,739 --> 00:32:23,172 He, more than most, knows that 396 00:32:23,308 --> 00:32:27,642 a hurricane's most deadly weapon is not wind, but water. 397 00:32:34,018 --> 00:32:38,352 Nine out of ten hurricane victims are drowned by storm surges. 398 00:32:41,059 --> 00:32:44,153 They can raise tides more than twenty feet above normal, 399 00:32:44,295 --> 00:32:48,698 and flood a hundred miles of coastline under ten feet of water. 400 00:32:56,441 --> 00:32:59,433 Fifteen percent of the world's population live at risk 401 00:32:59,577 --> 00:33:02,045 from severe tropical storms. 402 00:33:03,414 --> 00:33:08,374 Atlantic hurricanes assault the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. 403 00:33:09,020 --> 00:33:11,488 Typhoons born over the western Pacific Ocean 404 00:33:11,622 --> 00:33:15,524 batter Japan, China, and the Philippines. 405 00:33:22,767 --> 00:33:26,601 Mostly deadly are the cyclones that strike Bangladesh. 406 00:33:26,738 --> 00:33:31,903 Here, millions farm a river delta in places only inches above sea level. 407 00:33:32,910 --> 00:33:34,935 Escape routes are few. 408 00:33:37,749 --> 00:33:39,842 Loss of life has been appauling. 409 00:33:39,984 --> 00:33:45,183 In a single 1970's storm, over 300,000 dead. 410 00:33:50,028 --> 00:33:51,859 Of all the atmosphere's threats, 411 00:33:51,996 --> 00:33:54,897 these giants should hardly catch us off guard. 412 00:33:55,033 --> 00:33:57,968 Weather satellites track them from birth. 413 00:33:58,536 --> 00:34:02,836 But no technology can predict exactly where one will go. 414 00:34:03,107 --> 00:34:05,166 To penetrate the hurricane's secrets, 415 00:34:05,309 --> 00:34:09,939 researchers ride a flying laboratory into the eye of the storm. 416 00:34:16,621 --> 00:34:17,747 David? Yes, sir. 417 00:34:17,889 --> 00:34:19,754 We're gonna go in at 10,000 feet. 418 00:34:19,891 --> 00:34:21,449 At ten, No? 419 00:34:21,592 --> 00:34:23,560 Yeah. We're playin' it safe. 420 00:34:23,694 --> 00:34:24,661 Looks impressive, anyway. 421 00:34:24,796 --> 00:34:28,391 We have about 15 miles to the beginning of the wall here. 422 00:34:31,536 --> 00:34:33,868 External sensors measure temperature, 423 00:34:34,005 --> 00:34:36,803 air pressure, humidity, and wind speed 424 00:34:36,941 --> 00:34:40,502 as the plane braves the turbulence of the eye wall. 425 00:34:40,645 --> 00:34:42,340 We've got a hundred knots of wind, now. 426 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,574 I thought it might drop off but it hasn't. 427 00:34:45,716 --> 00:34:46,341 Not yet. 428 00:34:46,484 --> 00:34:49,044 If it hasn't by now it probably won't. 429 00:34:49,187 --> 00:34:53,647 We may see some 200 knot gusts here. 25 knot updraft. 430 00:34:56,294 --> 00:34:58,956 Okay, we're just coming into the edge now. 431 00:35:05,937 --> 00:35:10,237 An oasis of calm over nine miles tall, 432 00:35:10,374 --> 00:35:14,504 the eye is virtually clear from sea to sky. 433 00:35:25,223 --> 00:35:26,485 You guys see the center down below there? 434 00:35:26,624 --> 00:35:28,421 I think we're just about directly over it. 435 00:35:28,559 --> 00:35:30,493 Looks good, looks good. I think we got the center. 436 00:35:30,628 --> 00:35:32,255 O, I'll mark it. 437 00:35:32,396 --> 00:35:35,229 The eye's exact location and vital statistics 438 00:35:35,366 --> 00:35:37,926 are sent to forecasters on shore. 439 00:35:38,436 --> 00:35:41,997 Data also flows to this meteorological think- tank, 440 00:35:42,140 --> 00:35:45,837 the Hurricane Research Division, in Miami, Florida. 441 00:35:52,517 --> 00:35:54,109 What global ingredients determine 442 00:35:54,252 --> 00:35:56,447 how many hurricanes are born each year, 443 00:35:56,587 --> 00:35:58,748 and what paths they follow? 444 00:36:00,358 --> 00:36:03,088 Stanley Goldenberg, research meteorologist, 445 00:36:03,227 --> 00:36:08,062 says clues range from the El Nino phenomenon to rainfall in Africa. 446 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:12,433 He crafts computer models based on the premise 447 00:36:12,570 --> 00:36:15,266 that an organized piece of weather like a hurricane 448 00:36:15,406 --> 00:36:17,966 can be defined in mathematical terms. 449 00:36:18,109 --> 00:36:20,771 The atmosphere is an orderly universe. 450 00:36:20,912 --> 00:36:23,972 There's physical rules, physical laws that govern these things. 451 00:36:24,115 --> 00:36:25,946 It's just a matter of having the right data, 452 00:36:26,083 --> 00:36:28,779 looking at it with the right tools and the right analyses. 453 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:33,323 I mean, the real art is pulling the information out of the data. 454 00:36:35,326 --> 00:36:37,954 Goldenberg helped refine one of the models 455 00:36:38,095 --> 00:36:42,395 the National Hurricane Center uses to issue forecasts. 456 00:36:42,533 --> 00:36:47,698 But he had never experienced a hurricane on the ground until 1992. 457 00:36:53,044 --> 00:36:56,502 On August 17 th, Tropical Storm Andrew takes shape, 458 00:36:56,647 --> 00:36:59,912 about halfway between Africa and the Caribbean. 459 00:37:07,358 --> 00:37:11,089 During the following days, the storm slowly intensifies. 460 00:37:11,229 --> 00:37:14,392 Then, high level winds begin to tear Andrew apart, 461 00:37:14,532 --> 00:37:16,363 slowing its momentum. 462 00:37:16,500 --> 00:37:18,195 It's slower. It's the slowest one. 463 00:37:18,336 --> 00:37:22,272 Three days puts it here. So by four days... 464 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,234 To Goldenberg, and most other meteorologists, 465 00:37:25,376 --> 00:37:29,676 Andrew has only the slimmest chance of ever becoming a hurricane. 466 00:37:32,250 --> 00:37:34,844 Friday, August 21 st. 467 00:37:35,553 --> 00:37:37,748 As high level winds die down, 468 00:37:37,888 --> 00:37:42,154 Andrew begins to reorganize, and quickly gathers strength. 469 00:37:45,963 --> 00:37:49,763 Computer models show Andrew might head toward southern Florida, 470 00:37:49,900 --> 00:37:54,064 but Goldenberg and his colleagues dismiss any immediate threat. 471 00:37:55,840 --> 00:38:00,243 Stan leaves work early, to prepare for an important weekend. 472 00:38:00,378 --> 00:38:04,940 His wife Barbara is due to deliver their fourth child on Sunday. 473 00:38:07,818 --> 00:38:10,150 750 miles from Miami, 474 00:38:10,288 --> 00:38:15,954 Andrew's winds exceed 74 miles an hour on Saturday, August 22nd. 475 00:38:16,093 --> 00:38:19,620 Hurricane warnings in effect for Dade and Brown Counties. 476 00:38:19,764 --> 00:38:23,256 Hurricane watch in effect... 477 00:38:26,771 --> 00:38:29,569 The first hurricane of the Atlantic season is born. 478 00:38:29,707 --> 00:38:32,801 By noon on Sunday, massive evacuations are ordered 479 00:38:32,943 --> 00:38:35,036 along the Florida coast. 480 00:38:35,646 --> 00:38:37,136 Sunday afternoon. 481 00:38:37,281 --> 00:38:41,081 Right on schedule, Barbara has been in labor since around 6 am. 482 00:38:41,218 --> 00:38:45,985 Here we have from the hurricane to the other action in this room. 483 00:38:46,123 --> 00:38:51,026 Which is Barbara going through early stages of labor. 484 00:38:51,162 --> 00:38:56,623 Four centimeters contracted, going through labor pains, 485 00:38:57,868 --> 00:39:00,769 In the birthing suite, Stan videotapes the proceedings 486 00:39:00,905 --> 00:39:03,897 with all the fervor of an expectant father. 487 00:39:05,710 --> 00:39:10,238 Still, the meteorologist in him can't help but be distracted. 488 00:39:10,381 --> 00:39:13,748 And we still have, waiting for the hurricane. 489 00:39:13,884 --> 00:39:16,682 Beautiful skies. Calm. 490 00:39:16,821 --> 00:39:18,755 You'd never know what was going to happen here 491 00:39:18,889 --> 00:39:22,518 in the next 12 to 14 hours or so. 492 00:39:24,562 --> 00:39:25,426 Late in the day, 493 00:39:25,563 --> 00:39:29,158 Andrew's winds accelerate to a hundred fifty miles an hour. 494 00:39:29,300 --> 00:39:33,464 Traveling nearly due west, it descends upon the Bahamas. 495 00:39:33,604 --> 00:39:36,368 Around 6 PM, it strikes Eleuthera Island, 496 00:39:36,507 --> 00:39:42,446 packing a storm surge 23 feet high, taking four lives. 497 00:39:46,784 --> 00:39:48,684 Having a boy makes you feel like a father 498 00:39:48,819 --> 00:39:52,050 and having a little girl makes you feel like a daddy. 499 00:39:52,456 --> 00:39:56,256 Stan steals a few hours with new arrival Pearl, 500 00:39:56,394 --> 00:39:58,055 then leaves the hospital. 501 00:39:58,195 --> 00:40:00,629 He'll ride out the storm at home. 502 00:40:03,534 --> 00:40:07,334 In Miami, violent skies herald Andrew's approach. 503 00:40:16,013 --> 00:40:19,574 Inland, residents take routine safety measures. 504 00:40:24,288 --> 00:40:25,687 Seven miles from shore, 505 00:40:25,823 --> 00:40:29,691 Stan and his boys are joined by his sister-in-law and family. 506 00:40:29,827 --> 00:40:32,125 Sunday, 23rd of August. 507 00:40:32,263 --> 00:40:36,063 We have the family here: 508 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:43,106 Jonathan, Daniel, Roger, Benjamin, Joseph, 509 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:48,906 Aaron, Ruben. We have Ann. 510 00:40:49,046 --> 00:40:51,480 And we're gonna weather it out through the storm. 511 00:40:51,615 --> 00:40:53,947 Say hi, Daniel. Hi 512 00:40:54,084 --> 00:40:54,982 In the dead of night, 513 00:40:55,119 --> 00:40:59,647 Andrew suddenly intensifies as it approaches the tip of Florida. 514 00:41:15,506 --> 00:41:21,069 August 24th, around 4:30 AM. Andrew comes ashore. 515 00:41:26,350 --> 00:41:30,514 Our TV's out, maybe the power's out for the duration of this. 516 00:41:30,754 --> 00:41:32,745 You can hear that outside... 517 00:41:33,557 --> 00:41:36,219 You'll start hear the rule outside. 518 00:41:38,162 --> 00:41:39,857 In the hallway of the Goldenberg house. 519 00:41:39,997 --> 00:41:40,827 Winds outside, 520 00:41:40,965 --> 00:41:43,729 I think, are at least a hundred, hundred and ten miles an hour 521 00:41:43,868 --> 00:41:44,766 or more... 522 00:41:44,902 --> 00:41:47,393 Arie, are you o. K?... It's okay, it's o. K. 523 00:41:47,538 --> 00:41:49,369 And there is the cat... 524 00:41:49,507 --> 00:41:52,499 And there is... every body here? 525 00:41:52,643 --> 00:41:54,201 Just waiting it out in the hall 526 00:41:54,345 --> 00:41:57,678 because we lost the plywood on the front window 527 00:41:57,815 --> 00:42:00,340 The rear plant gate would probibly layrers. 528 00:42:00,484 --> 00:42:03,612 And we are sitting backhere resting in the Lord, 529 00:42:03,754 --> 00:42:05,449 In the hall way. 530 00:42:05,589 --> 00:42:09,650 We can feel our ears possibibly cut? 531 00:42:09,793 --> 00:42:12,455 Pressure drops. 532 00:42:12,596 --> 00:42:13,528 Yes, Johnson. 533 00:42:16,367 --> 00:42:19,666 Lord we thank you and ask for your protection. 534 00:42:25,609 --> 00:42:28,407 This is Stan, at 8:30 in the morning. 535 00:42:28,546 --> 00:42:30,639 We have been through a night. 536 00:42:30,781 --> 00:42:35,343 This is our street, trees down everywhere. 537 00:42:35,886 --> 00:42:37,820 The back street is a history in front of me... 538 00:42:37,955 --> 00:42:40,185 just one window broken on that car. 539 00:42:40,324 --> 00:42:41,382 Trees down everywhere. 540 00:42:41,525 --> 00:42:42,992 These are our sweet precious neighbors 541 00:42:43,127 --> 00:42:45,823 These shadows survive the storm every window cover 542 00:42:45,963 --> 00:42:49,922 with these type shadows survived. 543 00:42:50,067 --> 00:42:55,334 But our house, which had wood shutters, the roof lifted off. 544 00:42:55,472 --> 00:42:58,805 And as you can see, we have no house. 545 00:43:02,746 --> 00:43:08,150 This wall fell on us, containing the refrigerator, the stove. 546 00:43:08,652 --> 00:43:11,780 This is the wall, fell on top of us, 547 00:43:11,922 --> 00:43:13,184 the stove down there, 548 00:43:13,324 --> 00:43:15,258 the cabinets, all fell on top of us, 549 00:43:15,392 --> 00:43:17,860 and that small space you're looking at, 550 00:43:17,995 --> 00:43:19,189 the mattress and everything, 551 00:43:19,330 --> 00:43:23,164 that's where we were pinned during the worst part of the storm. 552 00:43:25,269 --> 00:43:29,433 Incredibly, three adults, six children and a kitten emerge, 553 00:43:29,573 --> 00:43:32,736 unharmed, from the wreckage that was Stan's home. 554 00:43:33,410 --> 00:43:37,073 The scope of the disaster has not yet dawned on Miami. 555 00:43:40,150 --> 00:43:44,678 At the hospital, Barbara rests assured that her family is safe. 556 00:43:44,822 --> 00:43:50,556 We will perhaps get the first look at what's going on, up in the air. 557 00:43:50,694 --> 00:43:53,094 The hospital had an emergency generator, 558 00:43:53,230 --> 00:43:55,221 so we still had power. 559 00:43:55,366 --> 00:44:00,394 And we saw all of the first footage of this destruction and storm, 560 00:44:00,537 --> 00:44:02,505 and we were in shock. 561 00:44:02,906 --> 00:44:05,807 The first areas they went through they were kind of relieved, 562 00:44:05,943 --> 00:44:08,104 saying, "Oh..." and just making interesting comments 563 00:44:08,245 --> 00:44:11,408 about how this car is thrown here and there. 564 00:44:11,548 --> 00:44:16,076 But they became much more sober as they went farther south. 565 00:44:19,923 --> 00:44:23,620 It did not look possible that anybody could be alive. 566 00:44:23,761 --> 00:44:27,094 And that was just a mile or two from my house. 567 00:44:27,231 --> 00:44:31,497 And at that point, I really felt despair. 568 00:44:31,635 --> 00:44:33,660 One two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. 569 00:44:33,804 --> 00:44:37,205 And there must have been about, oh, let's say, 570 00:44:37,341 --> 00:44:38,365 counting and trying to estimate 571 00:44:38,509 --> 00:44:40,739 at least three to four hundred mobile homes here. 572 00:44:40,878 --> 00:44:42,778 The rest are just completely gone. 573 00:44:43,313 --> 00:44:46,646 In the morning, my wife finally got through to somebody there 574 00:44:46,784 --> 00:44:48,012 just to find out that I was okay, 575 00:44:48,152 --> 00:44:52,384 somehow we both had a peace, that each of us was okay. 576 00:44:52,523 --> 00:44:54,423 But I still remember the first time, 577 00:44:54,558 --> 00:44:59,222 I got through to her on the phone, I just wept. 578 00:44:59,363 --> 00:45:01,297 I mean it wasn't just the excitement of me getting through to her, 579 00:45:01,432 --> 00:45:03,866 as me pouring out the emotions of what I'd been through. 580 00:45:04,001 --> 00:45:06,629 I mean, we'd been through an incredible experience. 581 00:45:07,805 --> 00:45:11,707 Andrew's storm surge wreaked havoc along the Florida coast. 582 00:45:11,842 --> 00:45:16,404 But its winds devastated an area larger than the city of Chicago: 583 00:45:16,547 --> 00:45:21,246 Some 135,000 dwellings damaged or destroyed. 584 00:45:27,491 --> 00:45:30,790 The homeless numbered 160,000. 585 00:45:31,662 --> 00:45:34,927 It seemed miraculous only 44 died. 586 00:45:35,699 --> 00:45:39,863 Not one official wind gauge survived Andrew's peak winds. 587 00:45:40,003 --> 00:45:42,801 No one knew how fast they had gusted. 588 00:45:44,508 --> 00:45:47,807 Intrigued, Dr. Ted Fujita "Mr. Tornado" 589 00:45:47,945 --> 00:45:50,812 flew to Miami to study the aftermath. 590 00:45:52,683 --> 00:45:55,117 Roofs ripped from homes. 591 00:45:55,486 --> 00:45:57,545 Trees snapped in half. 592 00:45:58,122 --> 00:46:01,114 Concrete beams carried hundreds of feet. 593 00:46:03,594 --> 00:46:06,188 Plywood embedded in a tree trunk. 594 00:46:06,630 --> 00:46:10,862 Fujita finds evidence of winds up to 200 miles an hour. 595 00:46:13,170 --> 00:46:16,139 But his most startling finding comes from aerial surveys 596 00:46:16,273 --> 00:46:18,537 with local meteorologists. 597 00:46:18,842 --> 00:46:22,073 They point out narrow streaks of total devastation 598 00:46:22,212 --> 00:46:24,942 near areas with lesser damage. 599 00:46:25,082 --> 00:46:28,483 To Fujita the patterns are eerily familiar. 600 00:46:35,192 --> 00:46:36,784 He develops a theory: 601 00:46:36,927 --> 00:46:41,125 That the worst damage in Andrew was caused by "mini-swirls": 602 00:46:41,265 --> 00:46:46,328 Tornado-like rotations, brief but violent, embedded in the eye wall. 603 00:46:46,470 --> 00:46:49,735 The theory has personal meaning for Stan Goldenberg. 604 00:46:49,873 --> 00:46:53,969 We never expected the kind of damage we experienced. 605 00:46:54,111 --> 00:46:55,942 Not only were we in the areas of 606 00:46:56,079 --> 00:46:57,478 some of the maximum areas of the storm, 607 00:46:57,614 --> 00:46:59,809 we had in addition, we believe, 608 00:46:59,950 --> 00:47:04,478 an area of more intense winds probably caused by the mini-swirls 609 00:47:04,621 --> 00:47:06,748 that Ted Fujita talks about. 610 00:47:06,890 --> 00:47:09,688 There was a strip, right through my house, 611 00:47:09,827 --> 00:47:15,129 of homes that were devastated, and I was right in that strip. 612 00:47:17,134 --> 00:47:20,570 Stan would relocate his family to a new house. 613 00:47:20,971 --> 00:47:24,429 Parts of Florida remains scarred to this day. 614 00:47:26,310 --> 00:47:31,543 Andrew also ravaged the Louisiana coast, taking 17 lives. 615 00:47:31,682 --> 00:47:34,708 Finally, the storm would vanish over the mid-Atlantic states, 616 00:47:34,852 --> 00:47:37,286 some two weeks after its birth. 617 00:47:38,088 --> 00:47:41,319 Andrew was America's costliest disaster. 618 00:47:41,458 --> 00:47:43,483 But it had a silver lining. 619 00:47:45,195 --> 00:47:49,791 It spared New Orleans, a city defined by water. 620 00:47:49,933 --> 00:47:53,630 Repeatedly flooded and drained over the past three centuries, 621 00:47:53,770 --> 00:47:56,000 the metropolis was built on swampland 622 00:47:56,139 --> 00:47:58,539 surrounded by the Mississippi River. 623 00:48:05,782 --> 00:48:09,479 Shaped like a bowl, the city's terrain rises near its edges, 624 00:48:09,620 --> 00:48:13,283 and dips in its mid-section to below sea-level. 625 00:48:16,660 --> 00:48:19,925 Lake Pontchartrain crowns its northern shore. 626 00:48:20,597 --> 00:48:22,326 Over a hundred miles of levees 627 00:48:22,466 --> 00:48:25,128 and flood walls up to 20 feet above sea level 628 00:48:25,269 --> 00:48:27,965 keep river and lake at bay. 629 00:48:29,673 --> 00:48:32,836 Massive floodgates fill the gaps. 630 00:48:33,477 --> 00:48:36,776 New Orleans has one of the best drainage systems in the world, 631 00:48:36,914 --> 00:48:40,008 powered by 21 colossal pumps. 632 00:48:40,717 --> 00:48:43,242 The city has known hurricanes in this century, 633 00:48:43,387 --> 00:48:46,322 but not a direct hit from a storm like Andrew 634 00:48:46,456 --> 00:48:48,981 - and not with up to a million people to evacuate 635 00:48:49,126 --> 00:48:52,357 over narrow bridges and causeways. 636 00:49:00,871 --> 00:49:02,532 Former Meteorologist-ln-Charge 637 00:49:02,673 --> 00:49:05,369 of the New Orleans National Weather Service office, 638 00:49:05,509 --> 00:49:10,446 Bill Crouch fears the levee system provides a false sense of security. 639 00:49:10,714 --> 00:49:12,306 It's a two-edged sword, 640 00:49:12,449 --> 00:49:17,079 because it protects the people's homes most of the time. 641 00:49:17,220 --> 00:49:20,246 But if water ever comes over the levees, 642 00:49:20,390 --> 00:49:23,882 it's going to get as deep as the levees are tall. 643 00:49:24,027 --> 00:49:28,123 And the lake would be 19 or 20 feet deep. 644 00:49:28,265 --> 00:49:32,793 This means that in parts of New Orleans that are below sea level, 645 00:49:32,936 --> 00:49:34,665 the water could be 30 feet deep. 646 00:49:34,805 --> 00:49:39,299 That is you would not be safe even in a three-story house. 647 00:49:39,443 --> 00:49:42,241 So, those are the scenarios we look at, 648 00:49:42,379 --> 00:49:47,976 which would force people to go upward in the buildings down town, 649 00:49:48,118 --> 00:49:50,951 and even using that refuge, 650 00:49:51,088 --> 00:49:54,922 it's my belief there would still be a great loss of life. 651 00:49:59,196 --> 00:50:02,632 One day, five, perhaps fifty years from now, 652 00:50:02,766 --> 00:50:06,497 a hurricane like Andrew might descend on New Orleans. 653 00:50:08,939 --> 00:50:12,602 The city might be jammed with tens of thousands of tourists 654 00:50:12,743 --> 00:50:15,644 - oblivious to the dangers of hurricanes. 655 00:50:23,353 --> 00:50:27,255 Evacuation would be ordered, and many would heed the call. 656 00:50:27,391 --> 00:50:29,291 But advance weather could move in quickly 657 00:50:29,426 --> 00:50:32,759 and flood the causeway, knocking out bridges. 658 00:50:38,201 --> 00:50:40,260 A hurricane approaching from the southeast 659 00:50:40,404 --> 00:50:43,498 could fill Lake Pontchartrain with its storm surge. 660 00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:46,507 Water would rush over hurricane protection levees. 661 00:50:46,643 --> 00:50:49,168 Pumping stations would be overwhelmed. 662 00:51:14,938 --> 00:51:19,398 This grim scenario may be imaginary, but the threat is not. 663 00:51:20,644 --> 00:51:24,341 A hundred thousand might be stranded in the heart of the city. 664 00:51:31,188 --> 00:51:33,986 The city of New Orleans has enlisted federal, state 665 00:51:34,124 --> 00:51:36,354 and local emergency management agencies 666 00:51:36,493 --> 00:51:39,121 to prepare for just such a nightmare. 667 00:51:40,497 --> 00:51:44,524 There are many other potential disasters along the U.S. Coastline. 668 00:51:45,635 --> 00:51:51,437 It is only a matter of time before another great storm exacts its toll. 669 00:51:51,575 --> 00:51:54,567 Nature has given us fair warning. 670 00:51:57,414 --> 00:52:00,850 A gossamer veil of atmosphere is all that protects us 671 00:52:00,917 --> 00:52:03,545 from the sterile reaches of space. 672 00:52:06,790 --> 00:52:09,657 What we call 'weather' is simply the Earth's attempt 673 00:52:09,793 --> 00:52:13,194 to balance heat and moisture around the globe. 674 00:52:18,935 --> 00:52:22,803 Swirling winds may spawn tornadoes and hurricanes, 675 00:52:22,939 --> 00:52:25,567 but they can also breed whimsy. 676 00:52:30,914 --> 00:52:33,678 A hay devil on a summer afternoon... 677 00:52:51,268 --> 00:52:56,729 Our home is a planet perpetually in the making, forever new. 678 00:52:57,107 --> 00:53:02,773 The same awesome powers that sustain life can also wreak destruction. 679 00:53:02,913 --> 00:53:05,381 It is up to us to be prepared. 680 00:53:06,583 --> 00:53:09,518 There lies the challenge, and the delight, 681 00:53:09,653 --> 00:53:12,451 of living on this dynamic Earth.