Original subtitles

♪♪

Narrator: Next on "doomsday caught on camera"...

Killer snow barrels down a mountain,

Burying all in its path.

A boiling inferno explodes...

[ woman shouts ]

...Unleashing a tsunami of deadly gases.

[ man shouts ]

Delgado: If this is kind towards you,

This is going to melt everything.

Narrator: What happens when a violent twister...

Savannah: Brandon, I'm [bleep] scared!

Narrator: ...Knocks you and your vehicle off the road?

Savannah: We're gonna die. I -- [ screams ]

Brandon: It's the only time that I can say I feared for my life.

Narrator: Torrential flood waters

Rage down a highway...

Dukeman: That guy just got swept up in the water.

Narrator: ...Showing no mercy on any soul.

Dukeman: Oh [bleep]

I possibly just saw somebody die in front of me.

Narrator: And even more jaw-dropping weather phenomena

That will make you thank god...

[ woman screams ]

[ car horn honks ]

Venable: What's going on?

Narrator: ...It didn't happen to you.

Savannah: Dear god, forgive me for my sins. [ screams ]

♪♪

Narrator: Scorching temperatures over 1,000 degrees,

Toxic gas permeating through the air

With debris falling from the sky,

An active volcano can be

One of the most volatile places on earth.

And if you're too close...

[ woman shouting ]

♪♪

...Be prepared to fight for your life.

[ man shouting ]

♪♪

August 28, 2019, the italian island of stromboli.

Elena schiera is vacationing with her parents

And some family friends.

They plan to spend the day sailing

To another nearby island.

When they decide to make a quick detour to sail by stromboli.

My name is elena schiera.

I'm 20 years old, and I come from Italy.

Narrator: It's a risky decision considering stromboli is

One of the most active volcanoes on earth,

Typically erupting two to five times a year

With colossal explosions.

♪♪

In fact, it had just erupted eight weeks earlier,

Claiming the life of a hiker.

Phoenix: This volcano is known as

The "lighthouse of the mediterranean"

Because ships navigating nearby

Could often see eruptions that were ongoing.

In fact, this volcano is so consistent

That there's actually a type of volcanic eruption

Called a strombolian eruption named after the volcano itself.

♪♪

Narrator: Suddenly, a cloud of deadly smoke and ashes descends

Upon the water and begins to chase the boat

At an alarming speed,

A veritable tsunami of noxious gases.

Elena's mother begins to panic.

There is no smoke, there's no fire here,

Nothing is burning per se.

It's all gray, flying volcanic ash,

Little bits of magma, some larger rocks.

It's a gas-powered jet.

Delgado: This is pyroclastic flow.

This is deadly.

If this is coming towards you,

This is going to melt everything.

Phoenix: You can't survive being engulfed by a pyroclastic flow.

It's just not possible.

Narrator: As the steaming ash cloud

Rapidly approaches their boat,

Elena sees her life flash before her eyes.

Narrator: How will they survive?

A few seconds later, elena turns on her camera.

[ speaking italian ]

It's a miracle.

Somehow their small sailboat has managed to outrun

The volcanic cloud.

Little did those aboard know how close they were to death.

Abbott: Had that cloud caught up with them on the boat,

They would have all been incinerated.

You cannot breathe that air in.

You cannot have it envelop your body, or you are toast.

Narrator: After about 15 minutes of terror,

Elena and her family finally reach a safe distance

From the erupting volcano, avoiding total catastrophe.

And then a stunning revelation comes to light.

Pinn: There's a general understanding

Within the christian faith

That after physical life, the soul continues,

And folks who depart continue to be concerned for us.

They exist in another realm,

But working on our behalf to try to safeguard us.

We all like to think that our deceased loved ones

Are in our corner checking in from time to time,

Making sure that we're okay.

Now, is this what happened here?

We don't know for sure,

But if that thought brings comfort to them

And rounds out that story, who am I to dispute it?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Coming up...

A hellish flood churns the desert...

Man: Holy [bleep]

...Into a death churn.

And...

Savannah: Brandon, I'm [bleep] scared!

Narrator: ...Watch the violent twister push a couple

Right off the highway.

Savannah: We're gonna die. I love -- [ screams ]

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Mid-afternoon.

You're driving along the highway when in a matter of seconds...

[ thunder cracks ]

...The skies turn black

And unleash a rainfall of epic proportions.

Quickly, the waters rise, turning the highway

Into a raging river,

Sweeping up everything in its path.

Your car, once safe, is now a floating prison...

Man: That guy just got swept up in the water.

Narrator: ...And it's headed straight for a deadly drop.

♪♪

Man: Oh [bleep]

[ screaming ]

Narrator: September 8, 2014, moapa, nevada.

The remnants of hurricane norbert

And tropical storm dolly

Are delivering a one-two punch of historic rainfall

Throughout the area.

As the waters keep rising,

A truck driver finds himself stuck on interstate 15.

Dukeman: This is the middle of the highway in nevada.

My name is johnny shane dukeman.

I shot this video on my cellphone.

Me and another driver, we started to head up I-15

Towards st. George, utah.

And we heard brake check,

And, you know, everybody kept screaming it,

And the road was just stopped dead.

And then all of a sudden, it was just a rush of water

That came down towards us.

Narrator: But it's not just a rush of water,

This raging river is crashing through the median

And not showing any signs of letting up.

It's flooding down the middle of the highway,

Down the median, under the bridge,

And over this way.

♪♪

Yeah, that's crazy.

The other driver, he goes,

You know, "I hope it doesn't get any worse."

Narrator: But he's spoken too soon...

Dukeman: Holy [bleep]

Narrator: ...Because a minivan is now caught up in the flood

And is headed straight for a 15-foot drop.

Abbott: Now, one of the worst vehicles you could be in

When a flash flood catches you, is a van.

And you see this very distinctly here.

A lot of those are relatively lightweight.

They have those broad sides to them,

Something easy for the water to push on.

Narrator: Johnny doesn't know it yet,

But trapped inside the minivan

Is an elderly couple from fresno, california...

♪♪

...Just hours into their cross-country trip

To visit their son in kentucky.

♪♪

Dukeman: I was worried for the people inside the car.

I was just like, "god, maybe there's a pillar or a fence

Or something that'll stop that van right where it's at."

Narrator: Then a group of people are seen

Getting out of their vehicle.

There was a work truck that had about four or five people in it.

You can see they were all talking about

How are we gonna do this?

Narrator: Incredibly, one of the men jumps

Into the water in what appears to be a rescue attempt.

Now, both he and the van are headed for the drop.

It becomes really, really nerve-wracking to watch.

You can't stop the van and the good samaritan

From moving towards that cliff.

It's a matter of when, not if.

Narrator: Suddenly, the man is pulled underwater.

The van is right behind him and, you know, I just thought,

"well, he's done,"

Because that van's gonna come down right behind him

And crush him to death.

Yeah, there's a car coming.

That guy just got swept up in the water.

Delgado: Look how quickly this man

Was just able to be washed off his feet and lose control.

That shows the power of this water.

Dukeman: Oh [bleep]

Abbott: That would be pushing him with a lateral force

Of about 1,000 pounds.

You can't stand up to 1,000 pounds of lateral force.

Narrator: The man is now struggling for his life...

Dukeman: Oh [bleep]

Narrator: ...As his coworkers stand powerless on the sideline.

Abbott: There's three people

That are very likely going to die here.

This is your doomsday staring you in the face.

Dukeman: Holy [bleep]

♪♪

By the time he hit that edge,

Everything went into slow motion.

That's the worst part is you're helpless watching these cars

Full of people floating down this highway,

And there's nothing you can do.

I was four semis back by the time I put shoes on,

Jump out, and go help.

It would have been already down the ravine and gone.

♪♪

Narrator: Johnny waits to see any traces of life

Coming out the other side, but nothing.

Dukeman: I didn't know what to say, I was at a loss of words,

You know, that I possibly just saw somebody die in front of me.

You know, you're sitting there and it's like,

"wow. You know, they're dead."

♪♪

Narrator: Johnny is in disbelief.

He sits stunned as he waits for news.

After an agonizing 30 minutes of uncertainty,

Johnny leaves his truck and heads toward the ravine,

Expecting the worst.

Then, a miracle --

It turns out all three survived.

Bystanders were able to save the husband in the minivan

By lowering a rope as he clung to the roof of the van.

His wife was washed 100 yards downstream

By the fast moving waters and rescued.

Dukeman: After I shut the camera off, we walked down there.

We met and talked to the people that were in the van,

And they were, you know, really, they were shook up,

But they were in good health.

Holy [bleep]

Narrator: As for the good samaritan,

He survived by holding onto a bush

Alongside the powerful water,

Though he did sustain a broken wrist from his fearless effort.

Dukeman: The guy is a hero.

I met the guy later on afterwards.

I asked him, I said, "what were you thinking?"

And he goes, "I just pictured my grandparents in there."

Father martin: To make the decision to risk your life

To save someone isn't something that really happens on the spot.

It's indicative of a whole lifetime of living that way.

And it reveals a person's true character,

Because you could say that a person's natural instinct

Is to want to save himself.

So to put yourself in harm's way,

To save another person is a really holy thing to do.

Narrator: Which is something johnny himself

Has often pondered since that fateful day.

Dukeman: I think about it all the time.

Would it have been easier to throw the camera down

And try to jump out there and go help them?

No, because what would have happened?

I would have been down in the bottom of the river,

Possibly dead or injured just as bad.

Holy [bleep]

So after this, yeah, you know, it opens your eyes a little bit

That, you know, life is precious.

Every day could be your last day.

♪♪

Narrator: Coming up...

A colossal avalanche buries a family alive.

And...

...Terror...

[ man screams, car horn honks ]

...Takes over the sky.

Venable: What's going on?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: The power of an avalanche.

[ clattering ]

♪♪

Thousands of tons of snow

Barreling down a mountain at lightning speed,

Covering everything in its path.

[ clattering ]

Look out,

Because if you're unlucky enough to get trapped in one,

There's only so much time and air before it's game over.

♪♪

March 3rd, 2019, frisco, colorado.

Shaune and tram golemon,

Along with their daughter, kiera,

Have just finished a picture-perfect day

Skiing at copper mountain.

I'm shaune.

This is my wife, tram, and my daughter, kiera.

It was exciting,

Because it was a huge snow day, one of the best snow days

We've ever had skiing there, so much powder.

Narrator: Around 4:30 p.M., the weather starts to turn gray

As the family gets in their truck to head home.

Shaune is driving with tram in the passenger seat

And kiera in the back.

Before long, conditions become treacherous.

Shaune: The roads were covered with snow and ice,

And everybody was leaving the resorts at that time,

So the highway was pretty packed.

Narrator: Just minutes into the ride,

Kiera notices something unusual.

I see this big, giant puff of snow.

It's getting bigger and faster going down the mountainside.

Like a cloud of snow just coming fast,

So I try to get my mom's attention

By saying, "oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh."

Tram: So I started looking out of my window,

And big cloudy thing, and I was like,

"oh, my gosh. Is that an avalanche?"

An avalanche that is now steamrolling down the mountain

And heading right for their truck.

Vagell: Snow in an avalanche can reach speeds

Of 80 miles per hour within five to six seconds

So it can move faster than a car.

So with this avalanche, it's very scary,

Because you don't have much time to get out of the way.

Shaune: All I can see was just this huge wall,

Like, a tsunami of snow.

"oh, my gosh, this is serious."

I was trying to decide whether or not

I could speed up or slow down.

What am I gonna do, right?

I think my first instinct was to hit the brakes, really.

I think that's the first instinct

When you see danger is to stop,

But there's a car in front of me and next to me.

If I hit the brakes,

The car behind me is gonna probably hit me.

Narrator: But it's too late

The avalanche is upon them.

Shaune: And it was a sense of helplessness.

I have my family with me, how do I protect them?

At that point, I said, "just hold on, guys."

I stopped. I just froze there

And just, like, looked out the window.

I was really, really, really scared.

Is this the end for them?

Is this their last moment together?

I was like, "okay. This is it. We're gonna die."

[ clattering, rumbling ]

♪♪

Shaune: It hit us, and it was like thunder.

Rumbling, shaking.

It's like rocks pounding as hard as they can on the truck,

And it's just like an earthquake was happening.

Narrator: The force of the impact

Throws the golemon's vehicle

Across the highway like a toy truck.

Shaune: Once it hit, it was total whiteout.

You couldn't see, you had no sense of direction.

You could feel that the car was being pushed.

And I thought we were, you know, gonna roll off the cliff

Or something.

[ clattering, rumbling ]

♪♪

[ heart thumping ]

Narrator: And then silence.

Inside the truck, the family is alive but shaken.

And it's impossible to know

How much snow has fallen on them.

Shaune: The truck was completely covered,

Everything was still white.

Orr-ewing: That experience of being completely surrounded

By snow is terrifying.

The night is blacked out.

Shaune: We weren't sure if we were buried or what

Or how bad it was.

Narrator: And the danger is far from over.

Shaune: My thoughts were going to "okay. If we're buried,

How much time do we have?

How much oxygen? We have three people in here.

When we look at these fatalities from snow avalanches,

The number one cause of death is suffocation.

If you're buried underneath several feet of snow,

It's not gonna be too long before you run out of air.

Man: Help!

Narrator: But then a glimpse of hope,

A ray of sunshine pierces through the darkness.

Shaune: Fortunately, we have a sunroof on the truck,

And we noticed the little light coming through.

Even if we are buried, you know, it's not that far,

We'll be able to get out of here.

Narrator: Shaune can see there's a way to escape

From his driver's side front door.

He cracks it open, slides out carefully,

And begins to film the aftermath.

Shaune: Our first avalanche came off of those peaks up there.

See the trail?

I looked around, and you couldn't even see the road.

And we saw this huge path through the mountains,

Like an asteroid, you know, hit side of the mountain

And wiped out all the trees.

It came across. This is I-70.

This is the road we're looking at.

[ indistinct chatter ] [ breathing heavily ]

I don't even know how to describe it --

Awestruck, like, wow. It's just wild.

The avalanche hit us,

Pushed us straight sideways off the road.

Narrator: Multiple vehicles were buried by the avalanche,

But thankfully, no one was seriously injured.

And by evening, a tow truck gets them back on the highway

And headed safely home.

Shaune: The realization that we were an avalanche

Is no small thing and that we made it through

Without a scratch, nobody was hurt.

We were very lucky, and we actually just survived that.

The lesson was never underestimate mother nature.

♪♪

Narrator: Coming up...

A twister so fierce it'll make you scream.

Savannah: [ screams ]

Narrator: And...

Did mother nature just swallow those people whole?

[ crumbling, rumbling ]

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Under the right conditions,

A tornado can suddenly form anytime and anywhere.

A twisted vortex of doom tearing its way across the land,

Leaving death and destruction in its wake.

So if you get caught in the wrong place...

Savannah: Brandon, I'm [bleep] scared!

Narrator: ...At the wrong time...

Savannah: We're gonna die. I love you.

Narrator: ...God help you.

Savannah: Dear god, forgive me for my sins. [ screams ]

[ glass shatters ]

[ wind blowing ]

Narrator: April 13, 2018, mountainburg, arkansas.

As tornadoes wreak havoc across the state,

Brandon and savannah boerjan are driving their brand-new camper

On interstate 49.

Brandon: We're from greenwood, arkansas.

And we were driving a couple hours north

To northwest arkansas

And right on the interstate in a little town

Called mountainburg.

As we were driving, there was tornado warnings.

We heard them, and we got on the phone and everything

And the radar was clear

And the tornado warning was removed.

So we were like, "okay. We're fine to keep going."

About 60 seconds before we went through it,

Our phones went off then saying that you're in an area

With a tornado warning.

Whenever savannah initially started filming,

The left-hand side was a big drop off.

So I was very open, and you could see this sky for miles,

And over there we could see rotation.

And she just thought it was cool.

She's like, "oh. I'm gonna film this.

This is neat."

Narrator: But little do they know

The deadly twister has made a turn,

And it's now headed straight for them.

Brandon: Within seconds, the tornado came over the hill.

We had two options -- trying to stop,

And you're pulling 9,000 pounds.

So, I mean, when the time that we have that option,

We were likely gonna stop right in the middle of it,

Or it was just try and gas through it

And beat it before it crossed the highway.

Don't try to outrun a tornado.

Try to turn around and pull over,

Because it's very easy to get trapped

And get caught off guard.

Narrator: But it's too late.

Brandon: She obviously panicked,

And I knew that with her panicking,

That I couldn't panic at the same time.

We can't both be panicking.

I was just trying to stay calm and get through it.

[ glass shattering ] savannah: Brandon!

♪♪

Narrator: The truck and camper eventually stop.

The tornado's intense winds

Have pushed and flipped them off the highway into a ravine.

Miraculously, savannah and brandon are alive.

Immediately, panic sets in.

Brandon: It was the sound of breaking glass

And crunching metal.

We're obviously upside down in a ditch

That is filling up with water,

And we don't know if there's a tornado above us or what.

I guess the panic and the fear of being upside down in the car

Actually possibly collapsing more,

And just, we've got to get out of here immediately,

Just, like, unclick the seatbelt and climb out.

♪♪

Narrator: Incredibly, both brandon and savannah

Walk away from the near-fatal encounter

With no injuries at all.

Savannah: Oh, my god, babe, it's right [bleep] on top of us.

Narrator: But brandon will never forget those final moments

Just before the accident.

Brandon: I almost made it through it,

And then it picked us up from behind and flipped over.

It was slow motion,

Even though it was so fast.

Savannah: Brandon, brandon, I'm scared.

Narrator: Savannah began to pray.

Pinn: She doesn't name heaven, but it's fairly obvious

That she's trying to position herself for the afterlife

And understanding being

If you are overburdened with sin,

You don't make it in.

And so she's praying,

Trying to get that slate wiped clean

So that if death does take her, she gets eternal life.

Brandon: Life flashes by your eyes,

Just like, man, I love you, too.

I think it's the only time that I can say

That I feared for my life.

We thought we were gonna die.

Savannah: We're gonna die.

I love you. I love you! [ screams ]

[ glass shattering ] brandon.

Brandon: A lot could have gone wrong,

But just making it out alive alone is a blessing,

But making it out and not having a scratch or bruise,

You can't put words behind that.

Orr-ewing: The bible talks about our times being in god's hands,

That we can trust god even in dangerous situations

That our lives will end at the right moment.

Brandon: I could have died right there,

And I'm here, so.

I certainly feel like there's something else above us

That knows that it wasn't my time.

Narrator: And the fact that they were buckled up surely

Helped save their lives.

Wear your seatbelt,

'cause I don't think we would've been alive

Without wearing our seatbelt.

Orr-ewing: We know scientifically that

That will increase the chance of our survival

If we're in an accident.

But at the same time, I think a case can be made,

Them having been helped and saved in that situation.

I always say that god works through lots of different ways,

And seatbelts are one of them.

[ woman screams ]

Narrator: On top of that, this traumatic event

Occurred on what some consider

To be the unluckiest day of the year.

Brandon: Friday the 13th doesn't mean anything to me,

But while we were at the dealership buying the camper,

We joked like, "oh, we're buying a camper on Friday the 13th.

Who does that?

Then that happened, and to make it even better,

Two months later or so

On Friday the 13th, I was in a car accident.

Cano: There's a lot associated with a number 13.

A lot of superstition,

But a fear specifically of Friday the 13th

Is paraskevidekatriaphobia,

And in this case, it might be warranted.

Brandon: Now it's in the back of my head.

If it's a Friday the 13th,

Everybody says, "brandon, stay in the house.

Don't go anywhere."

Narrator: No matter what day of the month it is,

Surviving this kind of terror

Has given brandon a new perspective.

Brandon: I definitely learned that ptsd is a real thing.

If the wind blows hard, I get concerned.

If there's a warning,

I definitely take it a lot more serious.

I'll pull up a radar immediately and see what's coming through.

Aten: When individuals go through near-death experiences

Like this, people report that it changes their view

Of not only themselves,

But also of their life and their purpose in this life.

Brandon: Whenever you go through something that you actually fear

For your life, every day is more of a blessing.

Savannah: Brandon, we're gonna die.

I love you. I love you! [ screams ]

[ glass shatters ]

Narrator: Coming up... Venable: [ gasps ]

Narrator: The skies swarm with darkness.

Venable: What's going on?

Narrator: Is doomsday upon us? [ bird cries ]

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Alfred hitchcock's classic 1963 thriller "the birds"

Terrified audiences.

Nightmares of being attacked by countless beaks

Seeking to rip your flesh and peck out your eyes,

But that was fiction.

Imagine thousands of real blackbirds called grackles

Swarming violently around you.

[ thudding ]

Venable: They're in circles.

Narrator: That's a horror movie come to life.

Venable: It's terrifying.

What happens if I honk?

Narrator: And this one...

[ car horn honks ]

Venable: [ screeches ] what's going on?

Narrator: ...Just got cast in the starring role.

Venable: This is ridiculous. Ugh!

♪♪

Narrator: December 6, 2016. Carrollton, texas.

After finishing some grocery shopping,

Lindsey venable gets into her car in the parking lot

Where some birds begin to gather,

Then more and more of them until she is surrounded.

My name is lindsey venable, and I recorded this footage.

There were so many birds flying around,

It was kind of surprising.

I'm getting attacked by birds.

It's a really, really strange feeling to be surrounded

By wild animals that you cannot control.

It's terrifying.

[ sighs ] oh, my god.

That's disgusting. Go away.

Phoenix: Put yourself in this situation

Where there are just countless birds swarming around,

And it's at dusk,

You're probably pretty unsettled.

Venable: I got in my car just in time. This is ridiculous.

[ gasps ]

Narrator: Lindsey may be safe from the grackles in her car,

But she's also trapped.

Venable: I felt like there were about 20 birds sitting

On my car.

So at that point, I didn't want to move.

What happens if I honk?

I did honk in the video a couple times...

[ car horn honks ] ...And I just wanted to see,

Like, what would happen, would that scare them?

[ car horn honks ]

[ thudding ] [ woman screeches ]

What's going on?

Maybe the birds that were sitting on my car,

Maybe they got scared,

And I can hear their little claws hitting my car.

They're on top of my car.

[ car horn honks ]

[ sighs ] oh, my god.

I've never seen them so concentrated where I was.

I've never seen so many birds.

It didn't cover up the sky completely.

It just looked like black mass in the sky.

The birds would fly to the left and then fly to the right,

And then they all seem to go in the same direction

At the same time.

They're flying in circles.

Cano: For all those birds to be in such close proximity,

You would assume there would be some in-flight collisions,

But there are none.

Venable: Wow.

Cano: They all act almost as one organism.

This is almost like a swarm of locusts

But greater because they're avian.

Father martin: It's almost like a perversion of nature,

Really upending of nature,

And that's really disturbing,

Because you, more or less, expect nature to do

The same thing every day.

[ thudding ] venable: Oh, this is so weird.

So, this kind of flocking imagery of birds,

And the beaks, and the color black

All evoke this sort of apocalyptic feeling

That something truly ominous is happening.

Venable: I'm getting attacked by birds.

A lot of people reference the movie "the birds,"

I've never seen "the birds."

My mother is the person who keeps telling me

I need to watch it so that I could get the reference.

Narrator: While we never get a clear reason

Why hitchcock's birds attacked the residents

Of bodega bay, california, here in carrollton, texas,

We have a little more info to work with.

These grackles, they have a plan.

What they're doing is really kind of

Surveying the parking lot,

And what they're looking for is scraps.

Nature is opportunistic and human population centers

Are great sources of food for birds

That are willing to go scavenging.

[ birds chirping ]

Venable: After the video stopped,

I probably stayed in my car for another 30 seconds

And then I slowly made my way out of the parking space

To make sure that the birds would also get out of the way.

And they did.

Wow.

Narrator: And though this eerie encounter

Might have a logical explanation,

For some people, a flock of this magnitude

Is a prophecy of dark times ahead.

I think it's something about nature being out of joint

Where you just don't expect that number of birds to congregate

In that way.

[ car horn honks ]

Venable: [ screeches ] what's going on?

If you believe that something like this

Could be bad omens or have a deeper meaning,

It can be very terrifying.

They're on top of my car.

And I know a lot of people do believe

That the world is ending...

[ car horn honks ]

...And it could be as soon as tomorrow.

[ gasps ] oh, my god.

This is terrifying.

♪♪

Narrator: Coming up...

The earth opens...

[ woman screams ]

...Swallowing up everything in sight.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Sinkhole...

[ woman screams ]

...One of mother nature's cruelest and most lethal

Magic tricks.

When the ground suddenly collapses beneath your feet...

♪♪

...When your home, your car...

Woman: Oh, my god. Help!

...Maybe even you get sucked into the depths of hell,

And what's even more terrifying?

There's no way to be sure when or where

The earth will open up next.

♪♪

Woman: Oh, my...

♪♪

Narrator: July 14, 2017. Land o' lakes, florida.

At approximately 7:36 a.M.,

The ground depression in the backyard of a home

Is reported to local authorities,

And barely one hour later, disaster strikes.

[ crumbling, crashing ]

[ alarm blaring ]

That depression is now a massive 250-foot wide, 50-foot deep

Sinkhole.

Imagine you were just going about your day,

You're eating breakfast, reading the newspaper,

And suddenly the floor falls out from under you.

[ crumbling, crashing ]

Woman: [ gasps ]

If a building or house is coming down,

The support system's probably gonna be broken,

So the walls could cave in, the roof could cave in on you.

Delgado: Had anyone been home at the time it opened up...

[ crumbling, crashing ]

...These people would have been severely injured or killed.

Woman: Oh, my...

It's insane that in one minute the house can be there

And then...

[ crashing ]

...The house has been completely swallowed up.

Narrator: And how does this quiet street

Suddenly become the epicenter of biblical-level destruction?

Delgado: Florida really is kind of the capital of the sinkhole.

Phoenix: Sinkholes are often found in low-lying areas

That are known for having water in the subsurface.

Florida has a lot of limestone and other relatively soft rocks

That are really permeable by water.

Underground, there are loads of limestone caverns,

And when the roof of one of those limestone caverns

Collapses,

That makes a sinkhole.

It's called sinkhole alley.

[ crumbling, crashing ]

Narrator: Perhaps the most terrifying factor of a sinkhole,

The element of surprise.

Delgado: This is something that can happen anywhere

In a split second.

You can just be walking along the street

And next thing you know...

[ crumbling ]

...You're gone.

[ people screaming ] that's pretty scary.

Phoenix: It's not something that you can prepare for in any way.

[ indistinct shouting ]

Occasionally, you'll have some clues --

Cracks in paved roads or in concrete sidewalks,

Previously level ground may develop a depression,

And of course, if you've had a really heavy rain event,

But sinkholes can be pretty tough for the average person

To have any warning at all about.

[ crumbling ] [ people screaming ]

Narrator: Adding to the eeriness of it all

Is that sinkholes don't only happen on land.

♪♪

Phoenix: The areas beneath the bottom of the lake or river

Are also susceptible

To the sort of erosion processes that create sinkholes.

[ wood cracking ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ crumbling ]

Narrator: Whether underwater or underground,

It doesn't look like these catastrophic events...

[ woman screams ] ...Will be ending any time soon.

Phoenix: Climate change increases

The water storage capacity of the atmosphere,

That means when it does rain, you get more precipitation.

♪♪

So you can speed up that weakening of the earth's surface

That you need for sinkhole formation.

So climate change really is a threat multiplier.

It takes your existing threat, and it amps it up.

[ alarm blaring ] [ crumbling ]

♪♪

Woman: Oh, my...

Narrator: So, it's doomsday, what would you do

If you were pummeled by avalanche,

Drowning in mighty floodwaters,

Ambushed by a ruthless twister...

Savannah: We're gonna die. I love you. [ screams ]

Narrator: ...Or chased by a scorching cloud of death?

Man: [ speaking italian ]

Narrator: Just hope and pray...

[ car horn honks ]

Venable: What's going on?

Narrator: ...You live to tell about it.

Savannah: [ screams ]

♪♪

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