All language subtitles for America in Color S03E02 Disasters

Narrator: This is
the story of america,

Seen in color
for the very first time.

In the 20th century,
americans live in areas

Exposed to terrifying
natural forces.

Newsman: We are in the path
where the eye of the hurricane

Is expected to pass over.

Narrator: Attempts
to control nature

Also lead
to man-made catastrophes.

Man: Oh, the humanity!

Narrator: Horrified
and fascinated,

Americans are quick
to record the consequences

But slow to respond.

Man: My wife must have
went over the rail.

I don't know whether
she's alive or not.

Narrator: Experience
makes america better

At dealing with disaster

And more savvy
about how the planet works.

Man: Public service such as this
contributed significantly

To minimizing
the loss of life and property

In this catastrophe.

Narrator: This is the story

Of how disasters
have shaped america,

As you have never
seen it before.

[crash]

♪

John kennedy: I want us
to recapture that...

♪

♪

Narrator: Acrobat joseph spah

Is famous for his
drunken balancing act.

♪

Over manhattan,
he uses clever camera angles

To heighten the illusion that
he is flirting with disaster.

♪

In spring 1937,
spah is on tour in europe

When he receives a last-minute
booking in new york.

♪

Spah's transatlantic trip
will be on board

The most glamorous
and sophisticated

Transportation of the day--

German airship hindenburg.

In frankfurt, 97 well-heeled
passengers and crew

Prepare for
the two-and-a-half-day journey.

Even on its 35th
atlantic crossing,

Hindenburg draws a crowd.

[cheering]

The crew casts off
on the evening of may 3rd.

[cheering]

Inside the airship,
spah and fellow passengers

Enjoy comfortable surroundings
and five-star treatment.

♪

There is
a fully equipped kitchen,

Serving a lavish menu of
lobster and other delicacies...

...As well as luxury
sleeping berths.

Spah shoots his own home movies.

Here he enjoys views
from the observation deck.

Ever the daredevil,
he even takes his camera

Up to the top
of the hydrogen-filled frame.

Day two, north atlantic icebergs

Are not a problem
for hindenburg.

Crossing ice fields,
it casts dramatic shadows.

But the weather is fickle.

Strong winds delay the zeppelin.

By the time hindenburg
reaches long island sound,

The airship is eight hours late.

Spah continues to film

As hindenburg
cruises over manhattan

Toward lakehurst, new jersey,

Where airfield crews
are making ready.

News reporters
are positioned for filming.

♪

And radio announcer
herb morrison is in from chicago

To give an eyewitness account.

Herb morrison: Well, here it
comes, ladies and gentlemen,

And what a great sight it is,
a thrilling one.

It's a marvelous sight.
It's coming down out of the sky.

It's pointed directly towards us
and toward the mooring mast.

Narrator: Passengers crowd
the hindenburg observation deck.

Spah is hoping to spot his wife
evelyn and their children,

Waiting below.

♪

But no one could predict
what is about to happen.

Morrison: It's practically
standing still.

Now they've dropped ropes
out of the nose of the ship,

And, uh, they've been
taken ahold of down on the field

By a number of men.

The back motors of the ship

Are just holding it, uh,
just enough--

[explosion]

It burst into flames!
Get this, charlie!

Get this, charlie!
It's fire, and it's crashing!

It's crashing terrible!

Oh, my! Get out of the way,
please!

It's burning
and bursting into flames,

And the, and it's falling
on the mooring mast,

And all the folks between it.
This is terrible.

This is one of the worst
catastrophes in the world.

Oh...The flames, climbing,

Oh, 400 or 500 feet
into the sky, and it,

It's a terrific crash,
ladies and gentlemen.

There's smoke,
and there's flames now,

And the frame
is crashing to the ground.

Oh, the humanity!

I don't believe--

I can't even talk to people
whose friends are on there.

It's, it's, it's, uh!

I, I can't talk,
ladies and gentlemen.

♪

Narrator:
35 passengers and crew

And one member
of the ground team die.

Amazingly, two-thirds of those
aboard, 62 people, survive.

♪

Joseph spah
is one of the lucky ones.

He uses his camera to smash the
window of the observation deck

And leap to safety.

The moment is captured
by news cameras.

Spah breaks an ankle
and burns his hands

But revels
in simply being alive.

Joseph spah:
It all happened so fast.

There isn't much
to figure about.

I do think that I am very lucky
that I am sitting home here

In my own home again,

After this experience
this afternoon,

And as I said before,
I'm just happy.

Narrator: At dawn, explosives
experts study the wreckage.

They theorize a spark ignited

The highly flammable
hydrogen gas,

But no one ever
finds out for sure.

♪

Other airship crashes
have been deadlier,

But no one filmed them.

The images horrify
moviegoers worldwide.

Public appetite
for airship travel disappears.

It's the end of an era
for these giants of the skies.

But it's not the first time
that graphic images of disaster

Have had such a profound effect
on americans.

[film projector starts]

♪

Magician albert smith is
an early filmmaking pioneer.

♪

In 1900, he uses the magic of
the newly invented movie camera

To great comic effect
in his latest show.

Later the same year,
his camera will bear witness

To the deadliest disaster
in american history.

♪

A week before
albert smith filmed here,

Galveston was
the busiest seaport in texas.

On Saturday, September 8, 1900,

A violent hurricane struck.

15-foot waves
left piles of rubble

In place of elegant avenues.

Here stood
the fashionable tremont hotel.

It once looked like this.

No official warning
precedes the deluge.

The local weather bureau,

Just over a decade old
and with no modern equipment,

Did not know how severe
the storm would be.

Here on broadway, the search
for survivors is fruitless,

And the stench of bodies
carries for miles.

The storm is thought
to have killed 8,000,

Nearly a quarter
of the city's population.

At st. Mary's orphanage,
the bodies of 91 children,

Tethered to 10 nuns,
are found buried in the rubble.

Albert smith's footage
is the first to show

The destruction of a hurricane.

The harrowing images
help to bring change.

Local authorities pour funds

Into an ambitious
engineering project.

They raise the city 16 feet

And build a seawall.

In 1915 and 1919,

Hurricanes test
galveston's defenses.

Flooding occurs,
but many fewer people die,

And most buildings
remain standing.

But it's not enough to restore
galveston's former glory.

By the 1920s,
houston, further inland,

Has taken over
as the major port in texas,

Booming off
the shipping business

That once fueled galveston.

But soon, a very different
force of nature

Will destroy a city
on the west coast.

In the spring of 1906,
san francisco is bustling.

Enriched by a gold rush
nearly 60 years ago,

The city by the bay

Is the commercial heart
of the american west.

The miles brothers
run a movie studio here.

On Saturday, April 14th,

The brothers mount a camera
on a streetcar.

They shoot
"a trip down market street,"

Showcasing the cosmopolitan city

All the way
to the ferry terminal.

But it is a view
that will never be seen again.

[crashing]

Four days later,

Just after 5 a.M.
On Wednesday, April 18th,

The biggest earthquake
ever to hit san francisco

Destroys the city.

The tremor ends
in less than a minute,

But its impact is enormous.

[explosions]

Fires spark
in ruptured gas pipes.

♪

Firefighters struggle
as water pipes are damaged, too.

Flames roar for three days,

Doing more damage
than the quake itself.

This view of city hall

Shows just a fraction of
the 28,000 destroyed buildings.

The miles brothers survive

And film a very different trip
down market street.

This is the first time

These films have run
side by side in color.

The ferry terminal is one of
the few buildings to survive.

3,000 are believed dead,

And over 200,000
are now homeless.

This tent city is one of many

Improvised
in parks and open spaces.

It's not safe to cook indoors.

Army mule trains haul supplies
to otherwise inaccessible areas.

Thousands cram the docks,
trying to catch a ferry.

[horn blows]

Many take refuge
across the bay in oakland.

♪

At the time, no one knows
what causes earthquakes.

But a group of scientists
come together

To analyze the aftermath.

They collect data along the
250-mile path of destruction,

Which has been recently named
the san andreas fault.

They conclude that quakes occur

When faults in the land
rupture abruptly.

The study marks the beginning
of modern earthquake science.

Science or no science,

San francisco
sets out to rebuild.

By 1912, the city
is up and running,

Though few structures
are quake-ready.

♪

The city showcases
its remarkable recovery

By hosting an extravagant
world's fair in 1915.

Grand palaces, ornate fountains,
and live performances

Entertain
over 19 million visitors,

Including the biggest
movie stars of the day,

Fatty arbuckle
and mabel normand.

The exhibition
is a fantastic example

Of resilience and bravado.

San francisco
is back on its feet.

[laughter]

It's 1904.

At brooklyn's coney island
amusement park,

Americans delight
in artificial disaster.

This damaged footage of one
of the most popular attractions

Is a rare survivor.

"fighting the flames" is an
elaborately choreographed show.

Firefighters rescue actors
from a burning building

As acrobats
hurl themselves into nets.

The show makes a heroic
spectacle of a growing problem

In america's
ever expanding cities.

[fire alarm rings]

New york's fire department
has gone professional.

Using steam-driven pumps
mounted on wagons,

They respond
to over 10,000 fires a year.

Across america, blazes are
on the rise in crowded districts

Built with little attention
to safety.

♪

In 1911, motorized
fire trucks debut.

Crews can reach a fire
much more quickly.

Red stands out in traffic.

Soon firefighters are wearing

Rubber coats
for better protection

And using
portable respirators.

♪

Fire prevention
is a trickier problem.

Some regulations
go on the books,

But these are ad hoc
and often ignored.

At pathé film studios
on park avenue,

In December 1929,

A fire kills 10 employees
and broadway dancers.

The building's owners had defied
the latest regulations

By failing to install
sprinkler systems.

A foolhardy attitude
to fire risk

Will blight america again,

But it is a tragedy at sea

That is the most infamous
disaster of the century.

America's
most well-known disaster

Is not captured on film.

This is the only known footage
of royal mail ship titanic.

Eight days from now, the world's
biggest ship will set out

On her maiden voyage
from southampton, England.

Destination--new york city.

Captain edward john smith
is in command

When the ship strikes
an iceberg and sinks.

♪

As news spreads,

Thousands gather at titanic's
offices seeking information.

The missing passengers include

Famous tycoons, aristocrats,
and celebrities.

These crewmen are among the 705
saved by the liner carpathia.

But 1,500 die
in the icy north atlantic.

[crashing]

In response, in 1914,

16 nations form
an international ice patrol,

Coordinated
by the u.S. Coast guard.

♪

Patrol vessels clear
the busy atlantic shipping lanes

Of icebergs
to prevent tragedies.

[gunshot]

[explosion]

Man: This is buge, the ship's
mascot of u.S.S. Mojave.

Narrator: Long days
on the north atlantic

Offer plenty of time to teach
mascot buge new tricks...

Man: Speak. Speak, boy.

[growls]

Speak loud. Speak.

[barks]

Speak loud. Buge, speak!

Narrator:
...And learn a two-step.

♪

Man: We are here today to...

Narrator: But the tragic
loss of life on the titanic

Is never forgotten.

In a tradition that continues
to this day,

The ice patrol holds a ceremony

And lays a wreath in tribute
at the site of the disaster.

[gunshots]

Other great ships will sink,

But the chances of hitting
an iceberg decrease sharply.

[gunshot]

[explosion]

But for many americans
in the 1920s,

There is a threat
much closer to home,

And it is impossible to prevent.

America's vast plains
offer ideal conditions

For the most destructive
and spectacular of storms--

The tornado.

Tornados strike here more often
than anywhere else in the world.

These powerful bursts
form extremely quickly.

There are few ways to predict
or protect against them.

It's March 1925.

This is what is left
of murphysboro, illinois.

The day before, a tornado ripped
through town in 90 seconds,

Flattening
hundreds of buildings.

Stunned residents
pick through debris.

This pilot helps a reporter
film the tornado's path.

At 219 miles and stretching
across 3 states,

It's the longest tornado track
ever recorded.

The storm kills 700 people.

Murphysboro
is determined to rebuild.

Americans are 20 years

From getting
reliable tornado warnings,

But a breakthrough
in earthquake science

Is just around the corner.

By the 1930s,
southern californians

Had experienced
numerous earthquakes.

Many of them
were moderate in size,

But in the hollywood hills,

None were as destructive
as the 1906 san francisco quake.

Amateur cameraman
and film fanatic cloyd louis

Lives in the hills.

He enjoys filming home movies
of his family

And simple pleasures,

But he is soon to make
a very different style of film.

♪

At 5:54 p.M.
On Friday, March 10, 1933,

An earthquake shakes
the los angeles area.

Cloyd louis, seen here,

Is one of the first to film
in long beach,

The city nearest
to the quake's epicenter.

[crashing]

Aftershocks follow.

Louis keeps the camera going

As residents flee
collapsing buildings.

The quake affects
75,000 square miles

And kills 120.

Three quarters of all schools
are destroyed.

Jefferson high is among them.

If school had been in session,

The toll would have been
far higher.

[people talking]

The quake was a surprise,

But the government
responds quickly,

Applying lessons
from san francisco,

Such as immediately closing off
gas lines to prevent fires.

Within two hours, the navy lands
2,000 sailors and marines,

Followed by soldiers
and the national guard

With supplies for rescue
and relief work.

♪

At night, film studio lights
help rescue workers.

[siren]

The red cross sets up makeshift
housing for those in need.

Man: Take all the food you want,

But don't take any more
than is actually necessary.

Narrator: Field kitchens
feed over 80,000 a day.

[cheering]

The devastation draws
rubberneckers from miles around.

Comic actor w.C. Fields
releases footage

From a film he's shooting
at paramount pictures.

Fields is seen here on the left.

W.C. Fields: ...Save my life.
Now, what can I do for you?

[rumbling]

Man: Take us to shanghai.

Fields: Shanghai?

Man: Yeah.

[rumbling]

[crash]

What's, what's the matter?

Man: Earthquake!

[people shouting]

Narrator: News outlets
screen the clip widely,

Giving fields' comedy
a publicity boost.

[screaming]

[crashing]

40 years later,
it's revealed as a hoax.

[rumbling]

Scientists want to know
the truth about earthquakes.

For the first time,

A series of new instruments
called accelerographs

Have recorded the earth's
movement during the quake.

Scientists now know
there are multiple fault lines

Posing major earthquake threats,

And much of america's
west coast is vulnerable.

Though there is still no scale
to measure earthquakes,

The readings also show
this event was only moderate.

Buildings in the long beach area

Crumbled because
they were constructed poorly,

On top of soft soil
and landfill.

♪

This revelation
shapes strict new laws

Requiring all school buildings
to be earthquake-safe.

♪

Thanks to a better understanding
of this destructive force,

America is learning to prepare
for earthquakes.

Within the year,

Tragedy at sea will bring
another wave of change.

♪

In 1934, cruise ship
the s.S. Morro castle

Makes regular trips
between new york and havana.

The popular party ship
offers americans

A brief escape
from the depression.

[ship horn blows]

[cheering]

On September 8th, 549 passengers
and crew are aboard

When, in the early hours of
the morning, disaster strikes.

[explosion]

Eight miles
off the new jersey shore,

The morro has caught fire.

In less than 30 minutes,
flames engulf the ship.

Not properly trained
for emergencies,

Many crewmen huddle at the bow,

Leaving passengers
to fend for themselves.

After three hours,
other liners come to help.

Aboard one, an amateur filmmaker
records the morro's passengers

Cramming the rescue ship's
lifeboats.

From the jersey shore,

Bystanders can see the morro's
lifeboats hanging unlaunched.

They sail to the wreck

Or swim to rescue passengers
from treacherous currents.

For many, help comes too late.

137 die.

Man: In the confusion
and excitement,

My wife must have
went over the rail.

I haven't seen her since.

I don't know whether
she's alive or not.

Narrator: When the survivors
do reach dry land,

They are pressed for details
by reporters.

Woman: I was in the water
for about an hour, I guess.

I don't know what time
the boat...Please...

Narrator: By mid-morning,
the morro has come aground.

A pathé cameraman is winched
aboard the smoldering wreck.

He documents the fate
of polished decks...

...And grand dining halls.

Charred, unused lifeboats

Testify to the crew's
incompetence.

Ashore, the newsman discovers
the ship was so hot,

He burned
the soles of his shoes.

♪

The hulk molders for six months,
a macabre tourist attraction.

Souvenir sales help
the area's depressed economy.

An investigation grills
acting captain william warms.

Man: What do you think
was the cause of the fire?

Was it cigarettes?

William warms:
Perhaps. Probably not.

Man: Was it lightning?

Warms: No.

Man: Incendiarism?

Warms: Probably.

Narrator:
No one solves the mystery,

But there is public outrage
over the crew's performance.

Congress passes
the merchant marine act,

Creating an academy
to train merchant seamen

To handle emergencies.

Thousands soon take the course.

♪

The following year,

America's response
to danger from the ocean

Will be tested again.

It's 1935.

Despite the depression,
tourists flock to florida,

Where sun and sand
offer a welcome escape.

But this subtropical paradise
faces a regular threat.

Weather forecasters now
recognize June to November

As hurricane season.

For the first time,

Observation posts will keep
a 24-hour watch for storms.

On labor day weekend,
ships report a weather event

Brewing in the caribbean.

Florida's chief forecaster,
grady norton, in the bowtie,

Plots the storm's path so far,

The first systematic tracking
of a hurricane.

Norton is able to warn
vulnerable areas

12 hours in advance.

[hammering]

[wind blowing]

The storm that hits
Monday evening, September 2nd,

Is the most intense hurricane
on record.

Today it would be a category 5.

Norton's predictions
are correct,

But for many,
they are still too late.

[train whistle blows]

A last-minute evacuation train

Derails on islamorada,
in the keys.

Aboard are
400 world war I veterans.

257 drown.

Their deaths outrage the nation.

An investigation partly blames
the weather bureau.

♪

Deeply affected, norton
commits the rest of his career

To improving
the hurricane warning system.

As the 1930s end,

Americans are finding
ambitious new ways

To conquer
their challenging geography.

In 1938, work begins
on a revolutionary project

In washington state.

A mile-long suspension bridge

Will cut across
the tacoma narrows,

Connecting tacoma
and the kitsap peninsula.

600-ton concrete blocks
are launched into the water,

To act as anchors.

♪

They form the base of
an elegant, innovative design

Meant to be lighter,
more flexible,

And cheaper to build.

The bridge is designed
to withstand 120-mile winds.

As construction finishes,

The deck develops an up and down
movement on windy days.

♪

Officials call in
engineering professor

Frederick burt farquharson.

But the opening day
remains on schedule

For the engineering triumph.

And in July 1940,
governor clarence martin

Dedicates the $6 million span.

♪

The bridge soon earns
a nickname--galloping gertie--

But for months, fearless
travelers continue to use it.

♪

On the morning of November 7th,

The wind on the narrows
is 40 miles per hour.

Farquharson notices the bridge
is not only moving up and down,

But also swaying sideways.

Tacoma camera shop owners

Barney elliott
and harbine monroe

Film the increasingly
violent undulations.

♪

Just after 10 a.M.,
authorities clear the area.

Tacoma news editor
leonard coatsworth

Is forced to abandon his car
halfway across the bridge.

He leaves behind tubby,
his daughter's dog.

The terrified cocker spaniel
won't leave the back seat.

Dog lover farquharson bravely
tries to save tubby,

But a bite on the knuckles
sends him back to safety.

Moments later, at 11:02 a.M....

♪

♪

♪

Tubby the dog
is the bridge's only victim.

Experts decide
the bridge's flexible design

Is a fatal flaw

And that engineers need to study

How wind speed
affects structures.

For the lead designer,
it's a career ender.

[rattling]

The footage of the collapse

Profoundly influences
engineering research.

World war ii delays
the bridge's rebuilding,

Which takes ten years.

Galloping gertie's descendant
is still standing.

America is finally taking
lessons from disasters,

A learning curve
that carries into a new era

Of science and technology.

In the late 1940s,
miami meteorologist grady norton

Collects data
on the weather bureau roof

To broadcast
on local station wtvj.

Grady norton: It will stay on
the cool side through the night.

Tomorrow will be very pleasant.

Narrator: But the 1947
hurricane season

Brings norton's forecasting
much closer to the action.

This is a highly skilled
u.S. Air force squad

Known as hurricane hunters.

Their missions,
begun as a bet between airmen,

Are now vital to warning
americans of hurricanes.

They will fly directly
into the eye of the storm.

There they measure
the wind speed and direction

To help predict
the hurricane's path.

Man: Going through the notch.
No, they went behind...

Narrator: Radar shows
they are close to the eye.

120-mile-per-hour winds
buffet the plane,

But the crew
get the data needed.

They radio
the navy base at miami,

Which relays
the information to norton

At the hurricane center.

The storm's path
can now be forecast

Around 12 hours earlier
than was previously possible.

Norton's team airs a bulletin
and hoists warning flags.

Man on radio: The tropical storm
of full hurricane force

Is now centered
over the isle of pines.

It is moving northward
about ten miles per hour.

The storm center
will pass a short distance...

Narrator: Hurricane hunters

Sharply cut
tropical storm deaths.

By the 1950s, early evacuation

Has slashed typical storm
fatalities from 500 to just 5.

Norton's miami headquarters

Becomes the national
hurricane center,

And storms start
to be given names.

Job stress finally fells norton.

Norton: There yesterday
afternoon, and it's moved...

Narrator: In 1954, after
a 12-hour shift tracking hazel,

A particularly erratic storm,
he has a fatal stroke.

Man: That's about the story
on storm hazel.

Narrator: Good Friday, 1964.

It's a quiet afternoon in valdez
on the alaskan coast.

The freighter chena is anchored
in the harbor.

Crewman fred newmayer films
as shipmates throw fruit

To children on the dock.

What happens next
will transform the understanding

Of earthquake science
across the world.

[crashing]

At 5:36 p.M.,

The largest earthquake in
american history strikes alaska.

By rare chance, newmayer
documents a quake as it happens.

♪

Across the huge state,
vast cracks open,

Shattering towns and cities.

♪

Following hard on the earth's
violence come deadly tsunamis.

Six giant waves
batter coastal town seward.

At valdez, this is all that
remains of chena's moorings.

Waves drove the ship
into the heart of the town

And swept away the dock.

The quake kills 131 people.

As alaskans rally,

Scientists from the u.S.
Geological survey investigate.

They study gaping fractures,

Massive landslides inland
and at the shore,

And they take to the air.

♪

Across 500,000 square miles
of damage,

The teams see
distinct patterns.

♪

In downtown anchorage,

One whole side of 4th avenue
dropped a dozen feet.

Fashionable suburb
turnagain by the sea

Collapsed into the bay.

Scientist george plafker
links these findings

To an emerging theory--
plate tectonics.

For the first time, earthquakes
are understood to occur

When huge pieces
of the earth's crust,

Called plates, shift position.

Plate tectonics heralds
a new era in planetary geology.

Acting on this knowledge,
authorities abandon valdez.

They rebuild the town four miles
west on more stable ground.

But there is still uncertainty

As to when
the next quake will strike.

[bell tolling]

Galveston, texas.

In the six decades
since the great storm of 1900,

America's gulf coast
has endured 60 hurricanes.

Galveston's weather bureau
now has radar

Able to pinpoint storms
220 miles away.

In September 1961,

Weathermen spot a big storm
aimed at the city.

They name it carla.

Enterprising local channel 11
reporter dan rather

Asks to broadcast live
from the weather bureau.

Dan rather: ...Your own bedding.
You'll probably need it there.

The reason we have brought
our live remote cameras

Down here to telecast direct

From the united states
weather bureau in galveston...

Narrator: Besides landing
a scoop and making tv history,

He and his team will be
doing a public service.

Channel 11's marathon coverage
of hurricane carla

Starts September 9th.

Rather: As of the moment,
hurricane carla is centered

Near latitude 26.0 north
and 92.9 west.

Keep in mind that
that's where the center...

Narrator: When rather
lays a map over the radar,

Viewers can see
exactly where the storm is.

It's a lifesaving innovation.

Rather: 255 statute miles
southeast of galveston.

That out in the gulf
is the real mccoy.

A lot of rain,
a lot of wind out there.

Narrator:
The coverage spurs action.

Galvestonians
evacuate in droves.

Many rural residents
take their livelihood and more.

Rather: We do have
one bit of advice for you.

If you decide
to leave your home

And you don't feel safe
where you are,

You want to move
into a shelter area, uh,

We are advised, we advise you
to bring along your own bedding.

Narrator: 500,000 people
along 150 miles of coastline

Move inland seeking safety.

It's the largest
peacetime evacuation

The world has ever known.

Rather and team stay put.

Rather: Mr. Rockney, how are
things over in the radar room?

Vaughn rockney: Just a minute,
and I'll have the fellas

Stand away
from the radar screen.

Rather: Don't interrupt anything
they're doing there now.

Now there's the shots of the--
our camera's on the radar,

And right there
is the hurricane eye.

Narrator: The storm that hits
September 11th is a category 5,

One of the most severe storms

Ever to strike
mainland america...

...And an exclusive
for rather and his station.

Carla destroys
nearly 3,000 buildings,

Doing damage estimated
at $300 million.

There are 43 fatalities.

Compared to the 8,000
killed here in 1900,

Carla's toll shows
how far america has come

In mitigating disaster.

Channel 11 gets public thanks

From weather chief
vaughn rockney.

Rockney:
We of the weather bureau

Are sure that public service
such as this

Contributed significantly
to minimizing the loss

Of life and property
in this catastrophe.

Narrator: Tussles with nature
across this vast continent

Have taught americans
to deal with disaster

And fostered understanding
of the natural world.

That knowledge stands the nation
in good stead

When disaster strikes again.

[creaking]