Smithsonian Channel - Perfect Storms (2014)

On rare occasions natural and human forces collide in a spectacular way to provoke disaster and change the world forever. These are history's Perfect Storms.
In this series we travel the world to investigate the biggest and most consequential disasters of all time. These events are the black swans of history: extremely rare and massively impactful. To understand why they occurred and what it was like to experience them first hand, you have to pick them apart piece by piece. Today, cable news networks provide exhaustive 360-degree coverage of natural and human disasters. They utilize on-the-ground investigation and scientific analysis; present dramatic storytelling about survivors and victims, heroes and villains; and employ powerful tools like 3D animation, field-testing, and satellite imagery.
Perfect Storms will use these same high tech tools, dramatic storytelling and investigative techniques to explore the biggest disasters of the past, some of which have not been covered on television before. We'll also meet the people who were there, using archives and first hand testimony when possible, and visual effects and dramatic reconstruction to bring to life characters from further back in history. The goal: a new approach and new stories in the ever-popular historic disaster and extreme weather genre.

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Part 1: Americas Deadliest Disaster: Galveston
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 city’s 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.


Part 2: Dark Age Volcano: Ilopango
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.


Part 3: Fire Twister: Tokyo
September 1, 1923. A 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.


Part 4: The Lost Legions: Germany
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.


Part 5: Gods Wrath: Lisbon
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.


Part 6: Hitlers Frozen Army: Moscow
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.