TORNADO

[Music] until a few short years ago men like this daily gambled their lives against the stake of a very small weekly weight as they checked in at the start of a work day the gnawing doubt of beer nibbled away at the edge of their consciousness the minor news is a descendant in the shaft elevator that there was a very good chance that this might be his final trip down and he had good reason for this fear in those early days the miner was sent down into the bowels the earth with almost no thought of his personal safety and with each swing of his pick for shovel he created a danger zone that could snuff out his life as easily as a puff of breath extinguishes a candle flame without proper ventilation he faced the horror of gas poisoning or plain suffocation it was common practice to carry several Canaries down into the mine as a test for gas or lack of air the canary died the miners were supposed to take its death as a warning if something was wrong with the air supply quite often the miners found themselves working deep in tunnels that completely honeycombed the earth underneath the town or city when this happened the dangers of a cave-in became a real threat at all too often materialized into the horror of being buried alive underground fires often raged out of control as in the famous panic on a copper mine caused by a carelessly discarded candle from a miner's cap light for a cigarette or match the fire would burn in the very levels just beneath the miners feet and finally the one dread possibility that was always present in the dank air loaded with dust and volatile gases [Music] in the mining town that sound meant only one thing tragedy when the whistle blew it took precedence over anything else that might be going on all the energy of the community was immediately channeled into one common cause to save the lives of the men trapped in the mine disaster and then came the agonizingly slow race to get back down to the track victim and another frightening possibility sinking a new shaft for the would-be rescuers to reach their entombed buddies would often cause additional cave-in but it was a gamble that had to be taken and all too often the grim finale of the drama played out in a final scene like this 19:20 jhanelle lewis only a few years out of the minds himself became president of United Mine Workers Union [Music] series of bitter strikes gripped the industry and in a closed-down company town the miner found himself sinking lower into the poverty he had known all his life but the bargaining table brought compromises or safety precautions better pay improve working conditions but unfortunately as we shall see danger still lurks in the modern-day mine shafts this point was brought home sharply to the public in the tragic Centralia Illinois by an explosion of 1947 it proved to be the most deadly mine disaster in America since 1924 rescue workers armed with 45 pound oxygen tanks worked themselves to exhaustion trying to get the trapped miners the futility of their efforts soon became clear to the families of the trapped men finally slobs and blankets the bodies of the dead were brought to the surface 111 miners in all died in that tragic disaster a grim reminder that modern-day mining is still a danger zone now the danger zone of a flood and to those of you who have never faced the raging torrent of savage floodwaters like this I can only say you don't know how lucky you really are in certain areas floods are an annual tragedy as certain as death and taxes [Music] the only questions are when and how bad is it going to be this time there's no compromising with a wall of water traveling along at such speed to anyone in its path it means just one thing pack what you can and get out when another wise peaceful River goes out of control it unleashes a destructive power capable of wiping out whole cities sometimes there's no warning a sudden cloud burst can create a river where none had existed and heaven help anyone or anything in its way more often however we have some warning the steady protracted rainfall will swell rivers to overflowing or a beautiful winter wonderland like this can suddenly become a terrifying threat to life and property as spring thaws start the solid waters to point once again the melting ice and snow bring the water level rapidly to a point where it has to overflow its bed and then come disaster even with warning a major flood inevitably takes its toll of lives not to mention the millions of dollars worth of property damage left in its wake for the ages and for the very young the danger is all too apparent somebody has to come to their rescue and if you've never stepped off your front porch into a rowboat you've got a new sensation coming it's awfully hard to leave your home to the mercy of millions of gallons of water like this but unfortunately you don't have much choice of course every flood finds victims who decide to stay behind trusting to luck they'll be safe a while longer only to find out too late that their last chance of rescue hasn't passed man does make an effort to stem the tide he builds levees and pile sandbags but he can only build those barriers so high and once the water surge forward man's attempt to halt the flow are pretty futile then absolutely nothing can be done but move to higher land and wait for the waters to recede all living things in the flood area are affected human beings must stay priority so all too often the wildered household pets must be left behind it's impossible to explain to this shivering dog why he was left stranded on a rooftop floating down the river the catastrophe of a flood involves more than just the Menace of the rampaging waters frequently the threat of epidemic phases the homeless refugees mass inoculations are called for and must be executed in a hurry and thousands of stranded people must be housed fed and clothed when floodwaters swamp a large area this task is a gigantic one the destructive force of rushing headwaters is sometimes unbelievable it can drown whole cities it can upset huge tanks it can collapse houses it can twist a railroad tracks and always it takes human lives and then when the waters finally return to their normal state the people go back to a city of mud and filth this is the trademark of a flood and it's always the same thick black and foul-smelling in some parts of the world a roaring raging flood like that has been known to mean the death of hundreds of thousands of people in China a flood in 1887 claimed 900,000 unfortunate souls before it had run its course again in 1911 100,000 more appearances here in America the Mississippi and Ohio rivers annually leaped their banks and spread unchecked to cause untold millions in damage when you're caught in a quake it's fine if you're brave but it's best if you're lucky you can't see an earthquake but you can see the destruction of things behind Erick quake cracked open the mountain range all a town off a thousand foot cliff left six thousand dead this happened to be Ecuador in 1949 but earthquake strike anywhere anytime without warning it could just as easily have happened to you or me here's Tokyo in 1923 a giant tinderbox of rice paper and wood colorful busy alive but shortly after these scenes were recorded an earthquake virtually wiped out to fans capital city a hundred and forty three thousand persons died four hundred thousand buildings were destroyed in this century Japan has been the victim of countless giant earth tremors one of the worst in recent years hit the city of Fukui in 1948 the whole city was destroyed in one half minute concrete bridges torn asunder a hint of the force of the upheaval could be seen in these cracks ripped in the ground the city's largest department store remain standing barely a caricature of a building more than 3,000 persons were killed in this disaster there have been worse cakes one in China in the 16th century wiped out 830,000 people but nothing could have been worse than this to a mother carrying her dead child [Music] in the United States it's the West Coast that takes the biggest beating these are on-the-spot pictures of the famous Long Beach earthquake of 1933 the ground was still shaking when these scenes were shot as Long Beach and Los Santos began to dig out of the wreckage the death toll mounted the final count showed more than 120 dead almost 1,000 injured and damaged in the millions seven years later Southern California's Imperial Valley was the victim even the roads were bent and twisted like strips of taffy in 1952 almost entire state of California was jolted out of bed at 4:30 in the morning by a violent tremor Bakersfield bore the brunt of it as you can see but the earthquake California will never forget was a San Francisco earthquake of 1960 these actual scenes tell the horror of the quake San Francisco surviving citizens walked among the ruins in disbelief they had to watch where they step many of the streets have become man-traps of sinking cobblestone and [ __ ] soil those buildings earthshake left standing were gutted by the great fire it started not until world war ii was a steel and concrete city to look like this again the West Coast first great metropolis reduced to a shell and 452 persons dead in the tragedy when the earth trembles it may crack open even the most solid ground that gaping crevice you're looking at used to be an Idaho farm earth movement turned it into a chasm 300 feet deep within a matter of weeks slightly east of here on the night of August 17th 1959 in western Montana near the Madison River an earthquake dislodged a mountainside sending it plunging towards hundreds of vacationers sleeping in camps and trailers a dark reminder of the terrible forces when you're waiting to be unleashed this was Texas City to the 15,000 inhabitants it was known fondly as the port of opportunity to the world became known as the port of death this was a disaster unequal in the history of the United States this was the explosive fiery death that claimed the lives of 561 persons a French freighter loaded with nitrate fertilizer blew itself to bits when a fire broke out on board in doing so it touched off one of the most fantastic series of fires and explosions ever recorded the docks were one massive flame and smoke as far as the eye could see nothing went untouched the big 20 million dollar Monsanto chemical plant crossfire and ripped apart in a series of gigantic explosions that were felt for a hundred and fifty miles away dead bodies were hurled through the air for hundreds of feet twisted metal fell from the sky like flaming meteors houses in the town were pancakes one after another the concussion smashed everything in its path then the oil storage tanks ignited greasy black smoked mushroom and upward an advance guard for the fiercely hot flames after the first stunning blow of explosions the town that is best to fight back the fire trucks came flying into the scene and harbor fire boat swung into position and began pouring thousands of gallons of water onto the plays and was devouring the entire doctrine as soon as possible rescue crews fought their way into the inferno it was hard to imagine that local chart remains as ever being a human being the dead were carried to an improvised morgue in the High School gymnasium as soon as the body was identified his name was hastily scrawled on a blackboard and a death roster grew longer by the minute destruction was everywhere you looked to the residents of that disaster ridden town the whole world seemed to be on fire to the wives and loved ones of the victims the world had temporarily come to an end their loss could never be measured in terms of dollars and cents and then there were they injured to take care of 3,000 or more of them the shock and horror of what they had been through lined their faces it was something they never would forget everywhere was the evidence of the unbelievable force of the explosion steel railroad tracks twisted like cardboard plaster stripped off a building exposing the bricks underneath the final score over 50 million dollars in property damage 561 dead over three thousand injured memorial services for the dead were conducted in an open field we're still burning buildings served as a backdrop for the proceedings and in the town a jewelers clock gave out a constant grim reminder that the disaster had begun exactly 919 this was Texas City in April of 1947 as businessman Marcel Lebon performed the final adjustments on his clothing and equipment the only thing on his mind was a possible bettering of the record for a vertical descent of 1168 feet who ban himself had set the record earlier and was now out to break it after four days of exploring the Pierre San Martin cave in the French Pyrenees he sent up the signal that he was ready to return to the world above ground on the way up the steel hoisting cable rubbing against jagged rocks weakened and broke levan fell 120 feet fracturing his spine and lapsing into unconsciousness a dr. Mary with the expedition of 13 men quickly descended to the injured man but even as he lashed him to a stretcher prepare Ettore to bringing him to the surface Subban died Mary returned to the top bearing the tragic news ancient artists be looking at claimed another victim a year later another expedition carried off a successful exploration of the cave they paused thoughtfully at Lu bans brave at the level of 1,000 feet down it was a sad reminder that even the most experienced cave Explorer constantly faces the threat of death in his hazardous occupation the spelunker frequently finds himself just on the brink of disaster he has often been likened to a mountain climber in Reverse whether he is hanging hundreds of feet in the air or scrambling up rocky ledges his very life often depends on his agility and his knowledge of the ways of nature the rewards are many underground formations are breathtaking and their exquisite beauty sometimes all is same shivering stalactites and stalagmites creat formidable barriers with underground Explorer [Music] more often than not the spell occur needs to be a scuba diver in order to keep his expedition going underground rivers and streams quite frequently bar his entrance to additional unexplored caverns and caves the science of spelunking above all demands the highest versatility when the man or woman who desires to practice it true it can transport them into another world of awesome splendor but as we have seen and are about to see further it can also be a ticket into a deadly danger zone in February of 1925 a young Kentuckian named Floyd Collins made headlines in every newspaper across the country by getting himself trapped in an underground cave in his native Bluegrass State Collins had been exploring some caverns in the vicinity of Mammoth Cave when a rock fall in his foot under a huge boulder his plight caught the nation's attention and set off a rescue operation that wreaked with carnival spirit everyone got into the air as Collins family stood a day and night vigil by the cave press photographers head up field day there seemed to be more people having their pictures taken than there were people trying to dig out the trapped victims finally at the end of 18 days in the word that Collins was dead they had not been able to reach it in time may 6 1937 the German passenger dirigible the Hindenburg the airship on its way to its mooring at Lakehurst New Jersey after completing his first transatlantic crossing of the season people gathered on the ground to welcome the Hindenburg sense that something out of the ordinary is happening airship keeps filling its water ballast and yet it isn't selling to its mooring mast as it should the Hindenburg dump still more ballast [Music] and then incredible happens no one who was there can ever forget it the screams of the trap passenger the smell of burning flesh fire so intense the giant Durga both troubled like a handful of cellophane [Music] here is the pretty sturdy bowl the r34 sailing over New York and 1919 she had just completed the first transatlantic surgical crossing durga bulls were still so new one of the r34 officers had to parachute down to supervise the mooring a perfect landing all the way around [Music] these big gas bags were lovely to look at giant balloons stretched over rigid frames but the hydrogen gas that kept them inflated was dangerously inflammable a short-circuit sparked this fire and the US Navy durable deep fix along with his hangar went up in smoke luckily there was no one in the hangar when it exploded the accident didn't slow down the airship enthusiast that same year 1921 America tested a brand new durga bull roma built me Utley at a cost of four hundred thousand dollars the 400 foot ship boasted a box-type rudder designed to make quick sharp angle turns but only a few months later the pride of our durable fleet burst into flames near Hampton Virginia it had crashed into electric wires its huge box rudder had caught on the poles and 34 men had died three years later the dirigible Shenandoah the first helium inflated airship was shredded to bits in a storm over Ohio wreckage was strewn over a ten square mile area but thanks to the non-flammable helium gas she hadn't burned so 29 of the 43 men aboard were lucky survivors other countries are having their airship tragedies too this is the French be mood for entire 50 man crew perished when she dropped into the Mediterranean in 1923 46 men died when the British passenger dirigible they are 101 crashed here in France in 1930 but the Germans did not lose faith when the Graf Zeppelin made his first flight to the United States in 1929 the waning interest in airships got a shot in the arm it had been a delightful two-day trip the passengers thoroughly enjoyed every minute its commander dr. Hugo Eckener was delighted after his record-breaking round-the-world flight was completed the Graf Zeppelin settle down for regular transatlantic run she soon became a familiar East Coast sight thrusting across the sky bolstered by the German success United States commissioned two new Navy durables first in a service was the Akron based at Lakehurst New Jersey she was a beauty 785 feet long 133 feet in diameter but in April 1933 while cruising over the Atlantic the Akron crashed into the sea during a storm it was the worst airship disaster in history one that cost the lives of 73 men aboard the Akron and that wasn't all the Navy airship the j-3 on his way to the scene of the akron crash met the same faith a watery grave only a few weeks before the after and sister ship the maycon had been christened her performance during the next two years seemed to justify the Navy's fate than her this was one of her achievement retrieving an airplane in flight once the plane had hooked Don was raised into the belly of the maycon for an interior hangar that housed by such planes then in February 1935 the maycon embarked on maneuvers with the Pacific Fleet despite several damaged girders in her port fin everything went smoothly until she was almost home off point sir the maycon began to fall apart when the ships of the Pacific Fleet seems the rescuing all that remained of the maycon were shreds of the giant envelope bobbing on the ocean of the crew of 82 only two went down with the airship all the others managed to stay alive in the oceans will help arrive operator operator this is emergency call I want the Elm bill weather bureau main to 100 this is brother mr. Powell tornado about a mile east of the wind pumping station blowing fast your way northeast yes the bottom is touching the ground [Music] yes that day L Ville was struck by a tornado most violent type of storm on earth normally we can expect about 180 tornadoes each year in the United States they can occur anywhere in the nation however the greatest number occur in the flat land areas east of the Rocky Mountains each individual tornado is a violent looking for techs in the atmosphere the tornados parent is a thundercloud and the vortex suddenly descends to rotate wildly along the earth in an upward spiraling motion the funnel consists of air and moisture to which dust mud and debris are added by the in rushing winds estimated to be rotating at speeds as high as five hundred miles an hour tornadoes are usually funnel shaped although they may take the form of a rope an elephant trunk or a column although its sweep is generally only about four hundred yards wide and up to 16 miles long a tornadoes destructive power is appalling strong buildings are reduced to rubble automobiles lifted and flung through the air great trees whirled about like toothpicks the creation of a partial vacuum within the vortex can cause buildings literally to explode when the funnel passes close to them no one knows all the facts about tornadoes but meteorologists can detect the thunderstorm conditions that give birth to them the presence of layers of air of contrasting temperature moisture density and wind flow such combinations of conditions may generate a tornado usually this does not happen but when the clouds become unusually threatening it is wise to take every possible precaution that calls for forewarning and it is the responsibility of the United States weather bureau to provide the public with information regarding the possibility of severe local storms including tornadoes such advanced notice can save many lives and even help reduce property damage a severe weather forecast was issued for the Elm velaryon all public outlets were advised police radio and television stations and news networks and the Elm Ville observer Network was alerted this was not a tornado warning its purpose was merely to alert the public to the possibility of a tornado occurring somewhere in the Elm Ville area to bring you this severe weather forecast issued by the United States weather bureau at Elm Ville there are indications that locally severe thunderstorms will southward back to the west quarter of all away within this area and for the public reacted calmly they have learned from the network's information program that this Alert net only that storm conditions existed that no tornado had yet developed they knew that experienced observers were at their stations watching that if and when a tornado developed they would be warned so they went about their business as usual except that practically every radio and TV set in the area was turned on mid-afternoon towering Thunder heads had appeared to the sickly greenish black color on Jesse brats farm a heavy rain was falling and he came indoors to watch from his kitchen then at 3:26 [Music] this brother mr. pal tornado about a mile east the wind bluffin station station this was it from its call gave elm ville nearly thirty minutes to get ready Powell and his assistants issued an immediate tornado warning to all communities in the path of the storm [Music] when a warning place the exact location of the tornado was flashed to the nearest radar station which began to track it what they saw were echoes from a number of storms over a radius of many miles but most important the peculiar s-shaped echo of the tornado cloud Brummett had spotted now they could follow its path and report any change of speed or direction meanwhile warned by television radio and telephone the public followed tornado safety rules those with storm cellars have the best protection people in open country sought ditches or ravines lying flat in a depression will guard against one of the greatest hazards flying debris as deadly as shrapnel in homes doors and windows on the north and east sides were open to help reduce damage to the buildings [Music] families took shelter in the southwest corner of their homes in basements if they had them in apartments office buildings and factories people move to prearranged positions against inside walls on the lower floors and in schools because of practice drills the pupils went to their assigned places on the lower floors away from windows and large roof areas within minutes the people of Elm Ville had taken shelter there was no panic for this was an informed community five minutes later the tornado roared into the city [Music] then it was gone as suddenly as it came the wind shifted in the air cleared over a scene of devastation property damage totaled millions of dollars but no lives were lost and there were few injuries without the weather bureau warning without the local storm warning network without the calm cooperation of an informed public the toll might have been tragically high nothing can prevent a tornado or any other storm but the United States weather bureau is predicting their approach with ever-increasing accuracy a large part of the tornados safety program is in the hands of the public every community in an area subject to these storms should have an active local warning network if you live in such an area support your local network if you don't have one start one the nearest weather bureau office will furnish detailed information and assistance such self-reliance may save the lives of your family your friends and your neighbors if you are ever in the path of a tornado [Music]