All language subtitles for Historys Most Shocking S01E07 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

- Tonight on "History's
Most Shocking."

How did a woman survive
being sucked into a tornado?

- With wind speeds in
excess of 200 miles an hour,

you really don't wanna be
anywhere near a tornado.

- [Tony] Why are some
elevators out of control?

- It's very rare that all
of the cables would snap

at the same time.

- [Tony] Are killer whales
seeking revenge on humans?

- There have been
over 500 reports

of this pod of orcas
attacking yachts.

- [Tony] And why does this

keep happening here?

- Bridge versus truck?

Bridge wins every time.

- [Tony] Disasters.

- [Broadcast] Oh,
the humanity.

- [Tony] Shocking video.

Life or death decisions.

Behind history's
caught-on-camera moments...

- What to do with
one dead whale.

- [Tony] Are the mysteries
of how and why they happen.

- Some sort of metal fatigue
was most likely at fault.

- It's like a bulldozer.

Very few buildings
can actually withstand

that force of moving water.

- I'm Tony Harris.

[mountain lion roaring]

[engine revving]

Prepare to be shocked.

[dramatic music]

Good evening and welcome to
"History's Most Shocking."

In the "Wizard of Oz,"
Dorothy gets whisked away

by a tornado to a magical land

where a Scarecrow, Tin
Man, and Cowardly Lion

help her get home to Kansas.

Well, people do get tossed
about by twisters in real life

and their stories don't always
have such happy endings.

March 31, 2023.
Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kimberly Shaw and her husband

are inside her dentist's
office when she sees

what appears to be a tornado
forming in the distance.

- I was like, okay, it's
just gonna go, you know,

like a mile in front of us

and we'll get an awesome video.

Oh, I'm getting it.

- [Tony] Kimberly continues
to record on her cell phone,

but pressure from the wind
gusts pulls the front door open.

- [Kimberly] Oh my God.

- [Tony] She desperately
pulls it closed

as power lines begin to spark.

Suddenly, the pressure
on the door increases.

Kimberly and her husband try
to hold it shut and then...

[wind whooshing]

- [Tony] Take a look
at that moment again.

As the doors blow open,

Kimberly is getting sucked
out of the building.

- It is absolutely
terrifying in that moment,

but I always thought that
if I can keep the door shut,

we'll be okay,
not thinking about

the million windows behind me.

- [Tony] Kimberly
grips onto the building

as she is pulled
up into a maelstrom

of glass and steel,
flailing like a rag doll,

until her husband is able
to pull her back inside.

Amazingly, the couple only
sustains some cuts and bruises

and she was able to keep
recording on her phone

the entire time.

- [Tony] Anyone who
has seen Dorothy

get sucked into a tornado
on "The Wizard of Oz"

can appreciate the terror,

and it does happen
to real people.

In 2006, 19-year-old Matt Suter
was swept up into a tornado

after it tore through his
grandmother's mobile home

in Fordland, Missouri.

Suter was tossed 1,300 feet.

He miraculously survived
with just some head trauma.

In this latest case,

it turns out Kimberly was caught

in one of several
destructive storms

that struck across the Midwest.

- At the end of March 2023

and the beginning of April 2023,

there was an outbreak of 147
tornadoes across six states.

This tornado that nearly
sucked up Kimberly

was 1.3 miles wide

and it traveled 30
miles through the city.

Some homes had their
roofs ripped off,

others were completely
obliterated.

Five people were killed.

- Tornadoes often wipe
out entire neighborhoods.

They can reach wind
speeds so powerful

they can even drive
a piece of straw

straight through
the trunk of a tree.

So how did Kimberly emerge

with just a few
scratches and bruises?

Let's see what
our experts think.

First, how powerful
is a tornado?

- We're talking
about wind velocities

exceeding 100 miles per hour.

People being flung just like
they're paper dolls into space.

- We have two by fours

that are hurling
across the parking lot.

If one of these were
to hit her in the head,

it probably could
have killed her.

- [Tony] And if you actually
survived being sucked up,

the center of the tornado is
the last place you'll wanna be.

As air pockets move toward
the middle of the vortex,

they expand, causing the air
to become thinner and colder.

- The energy of
this swirling mass

goes into the rim of the tornado

causing enormous destruction,

while the inside
has low pressure.

You are in an area where oxygen

is literally being sucked out.

It means you can suffocate.

You're choking, you're
gasping for air.

Temperatures could easily drop.

You could freeze being
inside a tornado.

- [Tony] So how was
Kimberly able to survive?

According to our experts, it
was just plain, old, dumb luck.

It could have and maybe
should have ended much worse,

considering the spot she
chose to watch the storm from.

- This should go
into the textbook

for what not to do in a tornado.

One of the worst places
to be in a windstorm

is a glass doorway.

What they should have done

is gotten into an
interior hallway.

Get down low to
avoid flying debris,

and even cover your head
with pillows or blankets.

- The takeaway?

When you see a tornado,

find proper cover away
from doorways and windows.

It is a complete miracle that
Kimberly survived this event

standing where she was.

If you followed her example

during your next
tornado encounter,

chances are you
won't be so lucky.

Now to something much more
common than a twister.

Every day, millions of
people around the world

ride commuter trains.

For many, the trip is one of
those few precious moments

in the day when you can close
your eyes and just relax.

Or can you?

[tense music]

October 2019.

It's a seemingly normal
commuter train ride

in Moscow, Russia.

One woman is riding alone
in a quiet passenger car,

but that quiet won't last long.

[train horn blaring]

A camera in the front car

captures the train operator
slamming on the brakes,

but it's no use.

The car smashes into
the train in front.

Take another look
as the collision

sends shards of glass flying.

Meanwhile, in the
back of the train,

the lone passenger is violently
thrust out of her seat

and onto the floor.

Clearly shocked by the impact,
she clutches her jaw in pain.

- It immediately went viral
because a commuter incident

really touches
millions of people.

It's their biggest nightmare

that as they're concentrating
on their daily routines

and they have their lives in
the hands of somebody else,

something terrible
could happen to them.

- [Tony] In fact,
commuter train accidents

are a cause for concern,

whether you're in Russia
or in the United States,

as one out of control train

in Hoboken, New Jersey
made very clear.

- In September 2016,
a train pulling into

the final station in Hoboken,
New Jersey couldn't stop.

The train went over
the bumper block

and came to rest right before
the passenger waiting area.

- [Tony] The bumper
block is a barrier used

to prevent trains from
going past the end

of the railway track.

- [Joe] In the aftermath
of the accident,

one person died and more
than 100 people were injured.

- In that Hoboken accident,

the NTSB report concluded the
engineer's failure to stop

was caused by fatigue due
to undiagnosed sleep apnea.

Is it possible something
similar happened in Russia?

Is this human error
we're looking at

or mechanical failure?

[tense music]

In the Russia video, it appears
the out of control train

doesn't even
attempt to slow down

before plowing into
the other train.

Could this just be
a brake failure?

- The train braking systems

are probably one of the safest
systems ever designed by man.

- [Tony] But that doesn't
mean they're perfect.

- One of the most common things

that happens to braking systems
is extreme cold weather.

Because train braking systems

have a lot of rubberized
parts and seals,

they can shrink and leak
and that can cause problems.

- [Tony] But Quimby
doesn't see any signs

of extreme cold as
the trains collide

and he believes
modern technology

rules out a mechanical
or computer breakdown.

- All braking systems are
designed to fail safe,

so if there was any mechanical

or computer related malfunction,

the braking system would've
applied the brakes.

- [Tony] But it's clear the
collision happened so fast

that even though the conductor
made a last second effort

to slam on the brakes,

they didn't engage in time
to avoid the collision.

The driver fares much
better in this accident

than the passenger,

even though she's riding
at the front of the train.

But that's because she has
something passengers don't.

- The seat restraint
kind of keeps her safe

and alive in that seat.

She doesn't get thrown into
the the glass in front of her.

The passenger did
not fare as well.

Looks like she sustains

both impact to her
face and her chest.

- [Tony] So if it's not the
brakes, how did this happen?

A closer look reveals a clue.

- What's really clear to
me is that the operator

is interacting with their phone,

most likely texting or
looking something up.

It's pretty clear she's
coming into the station

and the train ahead is not
moving and they're gonna impact.

When your job is
to operate a train

with people's lives on board,

that has to be your priority.

- The takeaway?

Clearly, distracted driving

and operator error
led to this crash.

Here in the US, we've
taken steps to make sure

this doesn't happen again.

A horrific 2008 train crash
in Chatsworth, California

caused by texting led
lawmakers to ban cell phone use

by train operators.

- Elevatophobia is the
fear of elevators.

It's common and it's
usually irrational,

but sometimes it is
extremely well founded.

Watch this.

[tense music]

January 8, 2022. Taizhou, China.

It's business as usual
at this local factory.

A CCTV camera records a worker
loading a freight elevator.

He then steps out to
pull the door down.

But in that moment,

the elevator suddenly
drops out of the blue.

By some miracle,
the worker escapes,

walking back over
with two colleagues

to gaze down the empty shaft.

Take another look.

The instant the man steps
off, the car plummets.

Close calls don't get
any closer than this.

Fortunately, accidents
like this are rare,

but they're not unheard of.

Check out this shocking
January 2023 incident

from Venezuela as the
elevator cables snap

and the car comes crashing
down with two workers inside.

You may not even
be safe at home.

Watch what happens in
this August 2023 footage

from a residential
high-rise elevator

in Changsha, China
when three men

are thrown toward the
ceiling as the elevator

suddenly drops several floors.

- Thankfully, the
elevator stopped

and didn't go all the
way to the ground.

They survived, but I think

they were probably
pretty traumatized.

- [Tony] He had
such a close call,

this guy in Taizhou was
probably traumatized, too.

Rudimentary elevators
have been around

since the early 1800s,

but it wasn't until Elisha Otis

demonstrated the first
elevator safety brake in 1854

that they started gaining
public acceptance.

That made skyscrapers possible,

revolutionizing the
urban landscape.

Times have changed, but
have elevators kept up?

Why did this factory
elevator plummet

and what can you do
to protect yourself?

Many elevators work
with a traction system

using a motor and pulleys.

- Over those pulleys will
run a series of cables.

On one end of the cable,

you'll have what's
called a counterweight,

which is a big block
of concrete, typically,

that weighs about the
same as the elevator car

when it's half loaded.

And each one of those cables
is able to hold the weight

of a fully loaded elevator.

- [Tony] In addition,
elevators are now equipped

with a more modern safety brake

that works by operating
on a separate cable

that runs over a wheel.

In a sudden fall, this
wheel, or overspeed governor,

is designed to stop moving
so that a lever attached

to the cable is pulled up and
closes the emergency clamps.

These days, all of these
mechanical functions

are controlled by an
electrical system.

So what caused this
elevator to fall?

Did the cables snap?

- It's very, very rare
that all of the cables

would snap at the same time.

It's only happened once
in elevator history.

In 1945, when a
US military plane

was fighting to find
its way through the fog

and it crashed into the
Empire State Building.

All six cables was severed

and the elevator went
crashing 75 floors down.

- [Tony] What makes that
story even more amazing?

A woman inside the elevator
miraculously survived.

- As the elevator was shooting
down the elevator shaft,

the air underneath
it got compressed

and it acted like
an air cushion.

- [Tony] But is
this the same thing

that happened in Taizhou?

One key moment in the video
appears to hold a crucial clue.

- The timing of
the factory worker

stepping off of the
elevator seems to indicate

perhaps that sudden shift in
the weight of the elevator

triggered some sort of
response there mechanically

that caused it to fail.

Ultimately, his weight
may have triggered

some sort of load imbalance,

therefore causing the
elevator to suddenly fall.

- [Tony] But since
the sudden fall

should have caused the overspeed
governor to stop moving,

automatically activating
the safety brake,

some crucial component of
that braking mechanism,

such as the clamps or the
cable, must have failed as well.

- It was more than likely
maintenance failures.

So the China Elevator
Association has data

that shows that over half of
elevator failures in China

are a result of maintenance
or repair neglect.

- The takeaway?

This elevator likely failed

due to poor
maintenance practices.

Here's hoping that all
gets turned around.

China accounts for
nearly two thirds

of all new elevator
installations

worldwide each year.

Meanwhile, experts
believe your best bet

to survive a falling elevator
is to lie flat on your back

and cover your head to
protect from debris.

Now we're gonna get dirty.

The word mudslide can
sometimes be misleading

since it's not just
mud that makes up

this natural phenomenon.

Picture instead an
avalanche of dirt, trees,

hard rock, and debris
coming at you full force,

destroying everything
in its path.

Take a look at our next
video to see what I mean.

[tense music]

August 2018.
Grugnay, Switzerland.

Francois Voeffray is relaxing
at home with his family

when a heavy hailstorm hits
this small alpine town.

- [Tony] Francois runs
outside to check it out,

but he never
expected to see this.

A river of black sludge is
roaring down a drainage tunnel.

[debris thudding]

- [Tony] Suddenly, the
cascading mudslide

overflows onto the street.

Mud and rock shoot
20 feet in the air

before crashing down and
swallowing the entire roadway.

- [Tony] Was this entire town
about to be buried alive?

It's happened before,
with deadly consequences.

- [Tony] The town of
Grugnay, Switzerland

is on the verge of being wiped
out by a massive mudslide,

a terrifying wave
of dirt and debris.

- When a mudslide
rips through an area,

people are not just seeing
wet mud come through,

but everything that wet
mud pulled down with it.

Trees, rock, and that's
what's really destructive here

is just the weight of
of all of this stuff

and water mixed together,

basically cutting through
buildings and roads and towns.

Imagine a wall of concrete
slamming into your house.

That's what we're seeing
here in Switzerland.

- Mud and landslides aren't
just a threat in the Alps.

Here in the US, a
horrific 2014 landslide

in the town of Oso,
Washington claimed 43 lives

after a hill collapsed,
annihilating much of the town.

But what is ultimately
causing these kinds of slides

and why did this one
form so suddenly?

[tense music]

- When you look at the video,

you can see that there
was a trough in the area,

which means that the
people in the local area

are expecting a lot
of rain to come down.

- [Tony] But this time, the
town got more precipitation

than it bargained for in
the form of rain, snow,

and hail, a dangerous
combo for any sloping soil.

- So what happens is that
water just forms into streams

and comes straight
down into the valleys.

It's also near the Alps and
very high mountain ranges

where you get a tremendous
amount of snow pack.

It could be a snow pack
broke away like an avalanche,

and then it basically melts as
it's coming down by friction,

which increases the water.

- [Tony] As that torrent makes
its way down the mountain,

erosion adds more
loose earth to the mix,

ratcheting up the power
of the mudslide's punch.

- It's picking up
all the mud, sticks,

rocks, everything around it.

It's almost like
a vacuum cleaner.

It's just collecting everything
that it could grab into it.

- [Tony] So that's
how it formed.

But if it happens to
your, what should you do?

- Unlike a tornado, in
this kind of a disaster,

you do not want to
go to the basement.

That will completely
fill with mud.

If you're able to,
get to higher ground.

Climb a hill, climb a tree,

get up to the top
floor of your house,

put as much distance between
you and that mud as you can.

- [Tony] The worst place to be?

Well, it might surprise you.

- If you find yourself in
a car, that's a death trap.

A mud flow like this
will take your car

and just scoop it up and
carry it along with it.

- Luckily, Francois
and his family

were able to reach high
enough ground in time

to witness this
phenomenon safely,

but it's still a day
they'll never forget.

- The takeaway?

A confluence of events
caused this to happen.

Avalanche, loose soil,
and a warm summer

that melted the high
altitude ice pack.

Luckily no one was killed,

but scientists warn
that climate change

could produce more
of these events.

Moving on.

The ocean can be a scary place,

but luckily it can
be enjoyed peacefully

from the safety of a boat.

Or can it?

It depends on if there
are killer whales nearby.

[tense music]

May 24, 2023.

In the waters off
the coast of Spain,

a four person crew
is delivering a yacht

from the Azores
Islands to Gibraltar.

A member of the crew
notices what she thinks

is a friendly pod of dolphins
swimming alongside their boat,

but as they get closer,
she begins to panic.

It is actually a pod
of killer whales.

[water spraying]

- [Tony] Well, they don't.

Instead, the orcas begin
to headbutt the vessel.

- [Tony] The crew dumps rice
in the water to attract fish,

hoping a meal will
distract the predators,

while banging pots and
pans to scare the whales.

But they aren't deterred
and they ram the boat again,

and again,

and again.

Seemingly intentionally
targeting the rudder.

The attack continues
for over an hour

with the orcas eventually
breaking through the hull.

The yacht starts
to take on water.

- [Tony] Perhaps the crew
shouldn't be surprised.

It turns out this
isn't the first boat

to have encountered violent
orcas in the waters near Spain.

- Since only May of 2020, there
have been over 500 reports

of this pod of orcas
attacking yachts

off the Iberian peninsula.

Are these orcas becoming
more aggressive?

It certainly seems so.

- Interestingly, orcas are known

to have symbiotic
relationships with humans.

Historically, off the
coast of Eden, Australia,

killer whales have been used

to herd other whale
species into bays

so that humans could then catch

and kill them for their
blubber and bones.

So why are these orcas
attacking the boats?

Let's see what
our experts think.

- [Recorder] Oh my God.

[water sprays]

- [Tony] So if the object
of the orcas' attention

was the boat,

were they trying to eat
the people on board?

- Orcas aren't known to
attack people in the water.

There's been one
report that we know of

where in 1972, an orca
attacked a surfer.

And even then, it was probably
more so play behavior

that went wrong.

- Juvenile animals are playful

and fishing laws have
become more strict

and there's a lot more
juvenile whales in the water.

However, I'm not so sure
this is playful behavior.

Typically, wild whales
don't interact like this

with human vessels
or humans in general.

Orcas are such
intelligent animals.

Have they developed
a taste for revenge?

- [Tony] Not revenge against
people, but possibly boats?

Yep, Steingass
says this might be

a premeditated master
plan of a single whale,

an angry female
named White Gladis

who's got a reputation
for this behavior.

- The leading theory
is that White Gladis

at some point experienced
a traumatic event.

It's likely that she
was injured by a rudder

or propeller of a boat,
because that seems to be

specifically what
she's targeting.

- [Tony] Orcas are
matrilineal, meaning

their pods are frequently
led by the oldest female.

So is it possible White Gladis

is passing on this
behavior to younger whales?

If so, there are some things
voters in Spain can do

to avoid an orca
on the offensive.

- As a result of
these incidents,

the Spanish authorities have
taken to mapping orca sightings

and so there are several
websites that you can consult

and obviously avoid those areas.

If you can, stay as
close to the shoreline

as you can safely navigate.

20 meters of water or
less is considered safe

because the orcas don't
come that close to shore.

And then stay away from
wherever bluefin tuna congregate

because that's where orcas feed.

If you find yourself
surrounded by orcas,

I would immediately call
for Coast Guard assistance.

- And in the end, that's
exactly what this crew did.

- And in the end, that's
exactly what this crew did.

Luckily for them,
help arrived in time

to tow their boat to
shore before it sank.

Our takeaway?

This orca behavior
is still unexplained.

It's certainly terrifying,
but it's uncertain

if we're looking at
something playful

or the revenge of White Gladis.

- Some drivers see the speed
limit sign as a suggestion

with about five to 10
miles per hour of leeway

before you'll get
into any real trouble.

But these next drivers
learn the hard way

that some road signs
aren't as forgiving.

[tense music]

December 13, 2016.

It's morning along
this quiet intersection

in Durham, North Carolina.

The light turns green,
signaling traffic

to pass under this
80-year-old railroad bridge.

That's when an
unsuspected truck driver

comes to a fate all too
familiar to the locals.

[metal scraping]

Let's see that again
from another angle.

The moving truck steams
full speed under the bridge,

shredding its top off
as the roof gets wedged.

This one notorious bridge

routinely finds new
ways to maul its prey,

from clean shreds, to peeled
wedges, to full out destruction.

These are just a handful
of trucks falling victim

to what's become known as the
dreaded can opener bridge.

[metal scraping]

Durham resident Jurgen Henn
has been monitoring the mayhem

for more than 20 years.

- I noticed every
once in a while,

there'd be yet another
truck stuck under the bridge

right outside the building.

So in 2008, I finally
set up a camera.

- [Tony] Since then,
Jurgen has recorded

and posted more than 170 can
openings on his YouTube page,

and it turns out the problem
goes back much further

than even Jurgen realized.

- This infamous
bridge is known as

the Norfolk Southern-Gregson
Street Overpass,

built in 1940 with a clearance
of 11 feet, 8 inches.

But as the trucking
industry evolved,

the size of trucks
got bigger and bigger

and all of a sudden, some
of the infrastructure

that existed before
wasn't big enough to fit.

Soon people were
calling this bridge

the granddaddy
stopper of them all.

- An average of 15,000
bridge collisions happen

every year nationwide.

But why do they keep
happening at this same bridge?

Sure, trucks are bigger,

but is there something
else going on

and why isn't anyone fixing it?

[tense music]

You may not believe it
based on the videos,

but it turns out the city
does try to warn drivers.

- The city of Durham did install

low clearance signs
on three blocks

leading up to the bridge.

Also, they've taken technology
that measures with lasers

and then provide warnings
to the individuals

who are driving forward.

- [Tony] It's a
commendable effort,

but clearly the signs and
warnings aren't 100% effective.

So could the road be lowered
to provide more clearance?

Martinez says infrastructure,

such as the presence
of underground pipes,

makes that a challenge.

- Those pipes are
about four feet below,

so you're gonna still
have to have them covered

to protect them, so it's not
considered feasible right now.

- [Tony] Then how about
raising the bridge three feet?

That's much easier
said than done.

- The problem is it has to
be done over a long distance,

usually involving several miles.

- Trains aren't roller coasters.

Any changes in the level and
grading of the train tracks

need to be done gradually.

- So you're gonna
have to bring in

thousands of cubic
yards of earth or fill

to help raise the track,

but then you're gonna
create the domino effect

and cause more changes

to everything along the
line in either direction.

- [Tony] Despite
these challenges,

it turns out engineers
were able to make a change,

but it's far from
a perfect solution.

- They've raised the
bridge eight inches.

You know, it's a small change
with really small effect

because the regular trucks

are still about 13
feet, 6 inches or more,

and so there's still
gonna be this mismatch.

- [Tony] Professional truckers
rely on years of experience

and even modern
technology like apps

to know about potential hazards.

But based on the kind of truck

that appears to be in the
majority of these accidents,

there's a theory about
why this keeps happening.

- It's not a surprise
that your rental trucks

would be the ones that fall
victim to this bridge the most,

and that's because a
lot of times, folks,

when they rented a truck
for the first time,

they're not familiar
with clearance

and so they're not really paying
attention like they should

to the clearance of the
bridge in front of 'em.

- [Tony] Jurgen Henn
sees hope for the future.

- As the number of
crashes is going down,

I feel mostly relieved.

I feel mostly relieved.

The point of the
channel was always

to help create awareness
of this problem,

and now that it's
getting better,

I'm really super happy about it.

- The takeaway?

This is one of those quirks
of urban development.

Newer vehicles
literally colliding

with old infrastructure,

and that reliable constant,

human error behind the wheel
compounding the problem.

I certainly hope things
continue to get better,

but if there's one thing we've
learned about bridge height

and driver awareness

is that you can raise
both only so much.

This next story is about
one of the most frightening

and tragic displays of the
Earth's power we have ever seen.

[tense music]

December 26, 2004.

Ko Lanta Island, Thailand.

It's the morning after Christmas

and Cleo Ivanoff and
her family are excited

to spend another beautiful
day on the beach.

Cleo's father brings his camera,

but when they get there,
the tide is eerily low,

revealing moss covered rocks

usually found deep
beneath the water.

- We could see in the eyes
of people living there

that it was not something
they had ever seen

and then the sea
just became a mess.

- [Tony] Suddenly,
a fishing boat

is tossed around like a toy.

- [Tony] Cleo and her
family grab their belongings

and retreat, but the
waves won't stop.

They are now crashing
through the vacation resort.

- We started to see that
the water was not stopping,

and from that on, it was panic.

[dramatic music]

- [Tony] About 40 miles away
on the island of Phuket,

a man is filming
from his balcony

and it appears things
are only getting worse.

- [Witness] That wave is a
good 15, 20 feet tall. Easy.

[people exclaiming]

Get in, get in, get in!

- [Tony] After massive
waves hit the shore,

people cling for their lives

as everything is washed
away in the blink of an eye

and the devastation is immense.

Soon, every corner of the globe

is reporting on what becomes
known as the Christmas Tsunami.

- Before this event,
people were unaware

that this level of
devastation could occur.

- [Tony] The tsunami pummels
14 different countries,

including Indonesia,
India, and Sri Lanka,

all of whom experienced
death and devastation

unlike anything they
ever had before.

- There was no warning given.

People were not
able to evacuate.

Up until this moment, people
didn't really understand

how bad a tsunami could get.

- Tsunami is a Japanese
word that means harbor wave.

But as devastating as these
waves in the Indian Ocean were,

the record holder
is the 1958 tsunami

that hit Lituya Bay, Alaska.

It cleared trees 1,720
feet above sea level.

And while that disaster
claimed only five lives,

the Christmas Tsunami of 2004

killed more than a quarter
of a million people.

What caused it and what can
we do if it happens again?

- The Earth is like an egg

with a broken shell
all around it.

Those little things
are called plates.

But out there in
the Indian Ocean,

the plates ruptured and had
this huge 9.1 earthquake,

and that's what just caused
a very large tsunami.

- [Witness] Get in,
get in, get in!

- [Tony] The earthquake
that started it all

was the third largest
recorded earthquake

in the history of the
world and released

the energy equivalent
of 23,000 atomic bombs.

Usually, these big quakes

get detected quickly
enough to warn people.

- [Bob] We take the precautions.

They put sensors on
the bottom of the ocean

and so they can feel the
pressure of those waves.

We get a move of a earthquake,

first place that gets
warnings is Hawaii, Japan,

all these areas
because that tsunami

could be going across the ocean.

- [Tony] But because this
particular area of the ocean

hadn't seen any seismic activity

in more than a century,

no such precautions
had been put in place.

- They didn't have any sensors

or any warnings that
this had happened

and that just compiled to make
this a very bad situation.

- Now as these waves
move over the deep ocean,

they're barely noticeable.

They move at 300 to
600 miles an hour.

- [Tony] Once out
of the deep ocean,

the increasing pressure
from the shallower sea floor

pushes the water up
into a rising swell.

- They slow down and
come roaring ashore

as these giant walls of water

that could be over
100 feet high.

- [Tony] Years later, this
issue would be remedied

by the creation of
a warning system

which sends underwater
movement data

to India, Indonesia,
and Australia.

And even without
such technology,

there are warning signs you
can look out for on your own.

- One of the interesting things
that happens before a tsunami

is that the water actually
pulls away from the coast,

exposing the seabed.

- [Tony] Just like a tide,
the water is pulled back

to help feed the massive wave.

- And folks will be lured to
the coast out of curiosity,

wondering what's going on.

But when that water pulls away,

it means it's gonna come back
with a mountain of force.

[wave crashing]

- [Tony] Cleo and her family

were among the
fortunate survivors.

They made it to dry land
and lived to tell the tale.

- We were so lucky,

mainly because we were in the
right place at the right time.

- The takeaway?

Blame this on a massive
undersea earthquake

and lack of early
warning systems.

That has been addressed.

More than half a million
earthquakes happen every year,

so it may be just
a matter of time

before we see a massive
tsunami like this one again.

Hopefully we'll
be more prepared.

- When it
comes to motorcycle safety,

most riders are
probably concerned

with cars and
drivers on the road,

but sometimes the road itself
can be your worst enemy.

September 2013.

Michael Henao is riding from
Boulder to Berthoud, Colorado

on his super motobike.

That's a cross
between a dirt bike

and a motorcycle design for
racing on different surfaces.

The journey takes the
motorcycle instructor

to a flooded road

and he has to decide
whether to try to go across.

- I thought about
turning around,

but I had crossed a river

literally like two
weeks before that.

And that's why I went for it.

- [Tony] At first,
Michael appears

to be navigating the rushing
water successfully, but then...

[dramatic music]

Suddenly, Michael is swept away

and separated from his bike,

dragged along by
a mighty current.

- Water pushes me under
and it and it spins me

and the whole screen goes dark.

And that was the
first time I'm like,

"Dude, what kind of situation
did I just put myself in?"

- [Tony] Michael's been
caught in a flash flood.

It's a common road
hazard in Colorado.

- In Colorado alone,

there are over 268 flood
prone cities and towns.

- [Tony] Experts say Colorado
has seen major flooding

when rains have occurred
on ground reduced to ashes

and dry soil by wildfires.

This means moderate rainfall
can cause significant flooding

because that damaged
soil can't absorb water

as quickly as it normally would.

- The national 30 year average

of flood deaths is
about 88 a year,

and nearly half of those
are vehicle related.

You don't want to go into
water rushing over the road.

That's the first rule
in a flash flood.

[dramatic music]

- Venturing into a
flooded road can be deadly

because it's so easy to misjudge

how deep the water is since
the road ahead might dip.

So how exactly did this
flash flood form so quickly

and what did Michael
do to survive?

[tense music]

This video makes one
thing perfectly clear:

in situations like this,
W-A-T-E-R spells trouble.

- This was a 1,000 year
flood event across Colorado,

meaning there is a
1/10th percent chance

of this occurring
in any given year,

and we did get quite a bit
of orographic rainfall.

- [Tony] Orographic
rainfall is produced

when moist air is lifted as it
moves over a mountain range.

As the air rises and cools,

orographic clouds form
and release precipitation.

The mountain blocks
further movement

and rain becomes concentrated

on the windward side
of the mountain,

increasing with elevation.

More than 17 inches of rain,
about an entire year's worth,

fell on Boulder in
just seven days.

- The combination of
the orographic rainfall,

the high anomalous moisture
content in the region,

and the terrain
all came together

to cause deadly flash flooding

across a large
portion of Colorado.

- [Tony] And that
spelled doom for Michael.

- It only takes about six
inches to start moving a car

and two feet will move
a truck or an SUV.

He's in a motorcycle. There's
really not much weight to it.

This was definitely deep enough

for someone that
is inexperienced

to lose their life.

- [Tony] So how did
Michael escape death?

- He let the bike go.

Focus on saving yourself, and
that's exactly what he did.

Your best bet is
to look downstream,

try and put your feet up
ahead of you downstream

so if you crash into anything,

it's gonna be your feet
first and not your face.

And he managed to grab onto
some branches of a tree

and was able to get ashore.

- I ended up walking
back to the staging area.

It was kind of like
the walk of shame.

What I've learned
is is if the water

looks like a wild ocean,

probably a good idea not
to mess with that one.

- The takeaway?

Bad judgment.

While it's easy to blame the
weather for Michael's accident,

even he knows he never
should have tried

to cross in the first place.

Believe it or not, Michael
did end up recovering

his bike two days later and
the camera company, GoPro,

was so impressed
with his footage,

Michael inked a deal with them.

And that's our show for tonight.

Thank you so much for watching
and stay safe out there.