A 7.9 magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Japan and the resulting fires combine with strong winds to trigger an extremely rare “dragon twist” – a tornado filled with burning debris – which tears through central Tokyo killing 35,000 people in just 15 minutes. A powerful earthquake shakes the city of Lisbon; survivors climb out of the rubble and flee to the riverbank, only to be engulfed by a massive tsunami. An enormous explosion sends billions of tonnes of dust and ash into the upper atmosphere, causing global climate change, famine and, ultimately, the bubonic plague. These are HISTORY’s Perfect Storms. Airing Mondays at 9pm ET/PT, beginning April 8, this new Canadian original series provides 360-degree coverage of the devastating natural and human disasters that changed the course of history.
Today, news networks provide extensive reporting of modern day disasters, utilizing on-the-ground investigation and scientific analysis; presenting dramatic stories about survivors and victims; and employing powerful tools like 3D animation, field-testing and satellite imagery. InPerfect Storms these cutting-edge storytelling techniques are applied to the biggest disasters of the past, many of which have never been covered on television before.
Spanning from a remote German forest in the year AD 9 to battlefields west of Moscow in 1941, Perfect Storms tells six extraordinary stories of natural and human forces colliding in a spectacular way to provoke disaster and change the world forever.
To prepare for the storm, HISTORY is hosting a teaser site at perfectstorms.history.ca. Using imagery populated by Google Maps, the site allows users to unleash a fire tornado, one of the most dramatic disaster elements from the Perfect Storms series, onto an address of their choosing. Closer to the series launch, the site will be expanded to allow the audience to interact with 3D animations from the TV show to unlock more in-depth information about the natural phenomena that created these disasters.
Episode 1 – “America’s Deadliest Disaster”
Broadcast Premiere, Canadian Original
Monday, April 8, 2013
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 U.S.A. – then everything changed. On September 8th, a massive category four hurricane makes landfall. Warnings about the approaching storm have been ignored and when the only bridge to the mainland is wiped out, the city’s 37,000 inhabitants are trapped. The next morning, 8,000 to 10,000 are dead. It remains the deadliest natural disaster to ever strike the United States to this day.
Episode 2 – “Dark Age Volcano”
Monday, April 15, 2013
AD 536. Somewhere in the world, a massive explosion sends billions of tonnes 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.
Episode 3 – “Fire Twister”
Monday, April 22, 2013
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 twist” – a tornado filled with burning debris – which kills an astounding 35,000 people 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.
Episode 4 – “The Lost Legions”
Monday, April 29, 2013
AD 9. 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.
Episode 5 – “God’s Wrath”
Monday, May 6, 2013
1755. A powerful earthquake shakes the city of Lisbon for an astonishing five to six 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.
Episode 6 – “Hitler’s Frozen Army”
Monday, May 13, 2013
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 are 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.