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When disaster strikes, it often comes without warning, catching people off guard and forcing split-second decisions that mean the difference between life and death. This series revisits some of the most harrowing calamities of the last 75 years, from the Oklahoma monster tornado of 1999 to the Mount St. Helens eruption to the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Through firsthand accounts, we follow the fortunes of those who found themselves in the middle of catastrophe and fought to make it out alive.
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Episode 1
Sun, Oct 15, 201746 mins
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted with a force equivalent to 1,500 Hiroshima atom bombs, shooting gas and ash 15 miles high and obliterating virtually everything within an eight-mile radius. Trapped in the disaster were six people, including scientists studying the volcano, an elderly resident who refused to be evacuated, and campers who thought they were outside the danger zone. These are their stories, relived and retold by the lucky survivors and the friends and family of the fallen.





