Smithsonian Channel - Perfect Storms (2014) Part 1 Americas Deadliest Disaster Galveston

Perfect Storms

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.

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.

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