All language subtitles for Doomsday Caught On Camera Series 1 7of8 Blazing Wildfires and More 1080p

♪♪

Narrator: Next on
"doomsday caught on camera,"

The sky explodes with fury...

[ thunder claps ]

...As thousands scramble
for their lives.

Glova: When tragedy happens
at an event like that, it hurts.

You can't win against nature.

Narrator:
A brutal assault of ice...

Man: Holy [bleep],
we've got some hail!

...Blasts down from above.

Man: Oh, my god,
have mercy on us.

I was honestly scared
for my life.

Narrator: A vicious vortex
rips through a town...

...Threatening to tear
everything to shreds.

Woman: Please, get in here!

That's when it
really hit that this was bad.

Narrator: What happens
when raging floodwaters...

[ women screaming ]

Woman: [ bleep ]

Narrator: ...Trap a car
full of friends?

[ women speaking indistinctly ]

Oh, god, are we going to make it
out of this?

Narrator: And even more
jaw-dropping weather phenomena

That'll make you thank god...

Woman: Heavenly father,
please help us.

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

♪♪

♪♪

From violent volcanoes
to horrifying hurricanes,

Mother nature has no shortage
of tricks up her sleeve,

And one of the rarest
is a deadly weather phenomenon

Known as...

[ dramatic music plays ]

...A microburst.

A thunderstorm on steroids,

Packing severe winds
and merciless rain.

[ crowd screaming ]

But what if you
and thousands of others

Were all caught in this
massive death trap...

...With no shelter
and no way out?

[ crowd screaming ]

♪♪

August 18th, 2011,

Near hasselt, belgium.

It's the official kickoff
of pukkelpop,

Europe's biggest annual
outdoor music festival,

Where 60,000 music fans gather

To see and hear
their favorite artists.

♪♪

This year, one of those artists
is brandon glova,

A.K.A. D.J. Bonics.

I've been a d.J. For about
20 years now,

And it's taken me
all over the world,

I get to connect with different
people all over the place.

It's been a blessing, you know,
to bring people

Together through music.

Narrator:
Brandon is hip-hop artist
wiz khalifa's official d.J.,

And he's pumped
to take their act

To one of the festival's
main stages.

Glova: Wiz was just kind of
popping off at the time,

So we were kind of a big deal

And it was a pretty
exciting time for us.

♪♪

Narrator:
It's a clear summer day

As huge crowds pack the grounds.

Around 4 p.M., brandon
and wiz khalifa take the stage

In front of thousands
of screaming fans.

People are going crazy,
the performance is nuts.

Narrator: But then, completely
out of nowhere,

A thick mass of dark-gray clouds
suddenly rolls in,

An ominous sight
not lost on the d.J.

You can tell that the weather
is changing,

We see it go from light to dark,

And as soon as we were finished
performing our last song,

Our tour manager runs onstage.

♪♪

They grab wiz and they said,
"hey, you need to come with us,"

And that's when it hit.

It was coming in fast,
and nobody was prepared for it.

♪♪

Narrator:
That's because the freak and
violent storm now upon them,

Known as a microburst,

Is nearly impossible to predict.

Fueled by intense winds,
monster hail, and sleeting rain,

60,000 people are now
about to be under siege.

A microburst is bad any time.

We're talking about this column,
this downdraft of air,

Coming down anywhere between
100 and 150 miles per hour.

♪♪

Glova: I don't think I've ever
seen rain like that,

Just straight sideways,
and it's heavy, and it hurt.

If you watch it,
the chandelier is shaking,

The tent's moving, and you
could see people frantically,

They weren't sure if they should
be running in or running out.

They told me, they said,
you have to tell people

To evacuate the tent.

Please exit the tent!

And then they all went out
and then they all came back in

Because they probably saw
what was going on outside,

Which was...A ridiculous storm.

Narrator:
Everywhere, concertgoers
desperately tried

To find protection
from the hell unfolding above.

Glova: People are running
for their lives.

Some people were just
acting out of pure survival.

People were trying
to take shelter

Because there was hail
and there was sideways rain.

Delgado: They're all standing
underneath this tent.

That tent is a death trap.

You have to get somewhere
with four walls,

Something that's going
to have some type of barrier

To protect you.

All I was thinking is,
"oh, my god,

These people are not going
to make it out of here alive."

♪♪

[ crowd screaming ]

Narrator: The microburst
knocks down scaffolding

And collapses
multiple performance tents,

Sending metal debris flying.

Still on stage, the d.J.
Is worried that he's next.

Glova: No one was telling us
what to do.

It was chaos.

Narrator: Brandon runs offstage,

Only to discover
a nerve-wracking sight.

You could see people just
bailing backstage,

And there was kids trying to
take shelter in the truck

With equipment in it.

Like, these kids
aren't supposed to be back here,

So I'm like, "man,
they're just letting everyone

Kind of take cover."

That's when I knew
it was serious.

♪♪

So, it's bad enough to be caught

In a sudden microburst
by yourself,

But to be among
a crowd of people

Escalates the fear
and really intensifies it

As you have
a kind of mass panic.

Glova: We're not talking about
hundreds,

We're talking about thousands,

And so they're scattered
everywhere

And running in all which way
in every direction.

It was definitely panicked.
It was frantic.

Narrator:
Everyone prays for survival.

♪♪

After what seems like forever,

The fast and furious deluge
is over,

Leaving the ravaged
festival grounds

Looking more like a war zone
than a party zone,

Even claiming the lives
of five innocent people.

If there's not a clear
exit strategy

And if people don't evacuate
quickly,

People are just stuck,

And then that's why you have
a lot of destruction,

Because people just didn't
get out of the way quick enough.

[ crowd shouting ]

Glova: You just kind of realize,
wow, we got lucky.

I mean, if five people
were there

And they lost their lives,

I feel like that any of us
could've.

And so, very thankful to be able
to talk about this today.

Narrator: For brandon,
this terrifying experience

Has been impossible to forget.

Glova: It started as
a gathering for music.

We want to bring people together
and have them celebrate

And feel good
and forget their woes.

[ crowd screaming ]

When tragedy happens
at an event like that, it hurts.

You can't win against nature.

Narrator: But he also knows
the show must go on.

Glova: I've done many festivals,
certainly, after that,

And I don't think
it's really necessarily changed

The way that I approach it,

But it certainly has changed
the way that I think about

How a great day
can turn into a doomsday.

[ crowd screaming ]

Narrator: Coming up...

Woman: We're in trouble now!

Narrator:
The commute from hell...

Woman: [ screaming ] oh, my
god!

Narrator: ...Puts three women
in unthinkable danger.

Woman: Oh, we're floating!
We're floating!

Narrator:
And a massive twister...

Woman: Now, guys! Let's go!

Narrator:
...Tears through a neighborhood.

Woman: Please! Get in here!

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Traffic is something
we all loathe

But have to deal with.

Stuck on the highway, bumper-
to-bumper with nowhere to go.

Now imagine if you were sitting
in traffic

And suddenly caught in...

...A flash flood
turned mudslide.

Helplessly trapped in a cesspool
of dangerous debris...

...With no idea if you'll
make it home alive.

♪♪

October 15th, 2015,

Outside tehachapi, california,

In the antelope valley,
two hours north of los angeles.

About 5 p.M., rhonda trott and
two coworkers are driving home

After a regular day
at the office.

My friends and I worked
at department of human services.

We were headed home
from work that day,

So I was driving carpool.

Narrator:
Though the weather's been quiet,

Just before leaving the office,

A flash flood warning
is put into effect.

I did work in the front lobby
of that building,

So I could see
the weather outside,

And there was certainly
no urgency to me.

I mean, the weather looked fine,
but we understood,

"oh, there's a flash flood
warning?"

You know, like, "we better
get on the road."

Narrator: Rhonda's at the wheel,

While rae sits
in the passenger seat,

And kim is in the back.

It's only a 20-minute
drive home,

But rhonda picks a different
route to avoid traffic

Just in case
the weather acts up.

And that's when I remember us
coming up on rain.

It was raining really,
really hard,

And we could see dirt and rain
coming off of the mountain.

We got halfway up the back road

And it was way too flooded
for us to get through,

So we turned around
and went to the highway.

Narrator: And that's when the
weather gets even more intense.

Trott: I had never heard rain
pelt a car.

I mean, it sounded like
it was big, giant hail pellets.

I had the windshield wipers on,
high as they can go,

And you couldn't see.

It was insane.

This was probably one of
the more terrifying events

Of flash flooding and mudslides
I have ever seen.

I mean, talk about being in the
wrong place at the wrong time.

Narrator:
The three women are now caught

In the middle of
the rapidly-rising water,

Full of mud and debris.

Woman: Oh, my god!

Woman #2: Oh [bleep]!

Ecklund: It was horrifying,

And it was rushing at us
at such a fast pace

That it was just scary.

You know, we were trapped,
there was nowhere to go.

Trott: At the driver window,

That's how high up the mud
and the water now is.

Woman: Oh, my god!

That was not
a smooth water flow,

There was branches galore,

It was very rough, choppy water.

They were in
very real danger there.

Narrator: Then, things go from
scary to petrifying.

You could feel
the water lift us.

It was literally like
we were suddenly in a boat.

Woman: Oh, my god,
it's all just [bleep]!

It's going over the [bleep]!

Woman #2: It's going over
the thing!

Woman: Oh [bleep]!
No, no, no, no!

It wasn't until we started
bumping into other cars

That I was like, "oh god,

Are we going to make it
out of this?"

Woman:
[ screaming ] oh, my god!

We would just bump
into one another

And float into another one.

I had never seen
anything like it before.

Woman: Oh, my god, this car is
going to hit us!

[ gasps ] oh, my god!

We're in a little ford focus,

And we have giant moving trucks
and diesel trucks

Coming towards us.

Woman: I'm scared.

At one point,
we landed next to a truck,

And so that was my concern,

Is we're going to get
crushed to death.

And in my head,
I'm thinking, "do we get out?"

These ladies find themselves

In the most lethal
of no-win situations.

Woman: I think if we got out
of the car, we'd get killed.

Woman #2: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah.

No, no, we're not
getting out of this car.

We would have just been
swept away

And then we would have
been dead for sure.

Cano: But by staying in the car,

If that level rises higher
than their windows,

Higher than the car itself,
they are in greater danger.

Oh, it was horrifying,

And what were we going to do?

How is this going to end?

Well, I do remember,
you know, saying a prayer,

Just like, "god,
please bring us through this."

We thought, for sure, we're
going to die on the freeway,

You know, trying to get home
from work.

Woman: [ screaming ] oh, my god!

♪♪

Narrator: Thankfully,
the water begins to recede,

And their car stops.

Trott: So I rolled down
my driver's side window,

And I climb out.

Rae climbed out my driver's side
window, as well,

And then we get kim
out of the back seats.

Narrator: For the first time
since the ordeal began,

The women are able to process
the apocalyptic scene

They just lived through.

There was just cars
every which direction.

Most of them were either buried

Or they were pinned
in between each other.

Ecklund:
Mud up to people's rooftops,

People standing on their cars --
it looked like devastation.

Narrator: But their escape from
the devilish deluge

Isn't over yet.

Trott: It was a disaster
just getting out of it.

Ecklund:
It was mud up past our knees,

And the other girls
lost their shoes.

Trott: We're walking barefoot,
on the freeway,

Through all this mud and debris,

Just trying to get out
and find somebody,

Anybody who can, like, help us.

Narrator: Exhausted,
over the next few hours,

The ladies trudge several miles
to the nearest exit,

Where an emergency vehicle
drives them back to tehachapi.

Rhonda, rae, and kim's nightmare
is finally over.

♪♪

Woman: No!
Woman #2: Oh, my god!

I think it was girl power.

They were able to talk
through the situation

And how to get out
of this alive.

Woman: If we got out
of the car, we'd get killed.

Woman #2: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah.

No, no, we're not
getting out of this car.

Trott: We will always be bonded.

And we now get together
every October 15th

And we have a mudslide party.

We still celebrate that we made
it and everybody came out ok.

Woman: Oh, my god, this car is
going to hit us!

[ gasping ] oh, my god!

Narrator: Coming up...

Barreling snow
traps the innocent.

And...

Man: Holy [bleep],
we got some hail!

Narrator: Vicious chunks of ice
blast down from the sky.

Man: God have mercy on us.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: An avalanche
is one of the most destructive

Natural catastrophes on earth.

An unstoppable force
that instantly spells doom,

Usually sparked by
heavy snowfall, strong wind,

And changing temperatures.

But there's another catalyst

Far more surprising,
that can unleash the same fury.

What if the trigger
to a massive avalanche...

Is you?

[ motor whirring ]

♪♪

March 13th, 2016,

Golden, in british columbia,
canada.

Doug lakeman and a few friends

Are out at
gorman lake riding area

Doing what they love
most -- snowmobiling.

I've been an adrenaline junkie
all my life,

I raced 3-wheelers as a kid,

Been around motor sports
all my life,

So I've been snowmobiling
for 40-plus years.

Narrator: Gorman lake is known
for its steep climbs

And jaw-dropping descents.

[ motor whirring ]

We'd been riding that area
for three days previous.

It was just hopefully going
to be a nice, gorgeous day

And fun day of riding.

Narrator:
Even for expert riders,

Living life on the edge
is a gamble,

Because danger is always lurking
along these challenging trails.

Lakeman: When you're looking
for deep and steep,

You take risks each
and every time you go out there.

Narrator: But there's one
dormant beast more intense

Than anything else,
that can awaken at any time --

An avalanche.

Most avalanches tend to happen

Within 24 hours
of a fresh snowfall.

So when you have a hard layer
of snow and ice,

Where you have fresh snow
on top of it,

That's in a very
unstable environment,

And all it takes is
a little bit of a trigger,

Then I can cause an avalanche.

Narrator:
Despite the warnings and the
chance doug and his friends

Could actually help cause
an avalanche,

They're willing
to take the risk.

Lakeman: I've climbed that face
many a times before.

It's a very steep face,

And so it's an adrenaline rush

Just to make a climb like that.

That sense of adrenaline rush

Can sometimes be addictive
for some people.

[ motor whirring ]

Narrator:
Doug heads up the slope first,

Followed by the others.

Lakeman: I was full throttle,
so I had a track speed,

Probably, you know,
100 miles an hour.

Narrator: Doug follows a path
left by a previous snowmobiler,

Considered to be
the safer strategy.

But when he spots an area
with half a foot of fresh snow,

He ventures into the unknown.

When I got into the new snow,
I could tell that

Maybe I should get
the heck out of there,

But I had to get pulled on,
so I wanted to go to the top.

Narrator: Suddenly, doug senses
his snowmobile shift below him.

[ motor whirring ]

And then,
the barrage of snow strikes.

An avalanche is upon him.

[ man groaning ]

♪♪

When the avalanche
actually broke,

You instantly know
that you're in trouble.

I went over backwards,
consumed into the avalanche...

[ motor whirring ]

Oh [bleep].

[ man groaning ]

It was like I was getting
ran over by a truck.

I couldn't breathe.

My face and body
was completely full of snow.

Phoenix: Snow, in an avalanche,

Exerts like 9,000 pounds
of force per square foot,

So a person caught up
in an avalanche

Will actually start sinking.

Lakeman: I tried to swim
in the avalanche,

And that's kind of a technique
to try and stay above the snow,

But I called it
"the doggy paddle from hell."

Narrator: But it's not working.

Doug is now fully buried.

Lakeman:
Words don't really explain it,

But it was definitely the
scared-est I've been in my life.

I thought what a burden
I'm putting on my friends --

Gonna have to dig
my body out of the snow

And got to tell my family
that I didn't make it.

I'd be thinking, "is it over?

Is this the end for me?"

♪♪

[ heartbeat ]

Abbott: We house 22 years' worth
of avalanche data

From western canada,

And we find that
77% of the people

Died by suffocation.

The other 23%
was blunt force trauma.

Narrator:
And then, a ray of hope.

Lakeman: I was breaking through
the surface with my hands

And was actually able
to get my helmet off

And take my first breath.

[ helmet scraping ]

♪♪

[ motor whirring ]

Narrator:
Doug's friends rushed
to the scene.

Lakeman: I was actually able
to wiggle out of the snow

On my own power,
without having to get dug out.

[bleep]! [bleep]! [bleep]!

[ snow crunches ]

I was in a state of shock,

And I really just kind of
sat there and got my breath,

And, physically,
I was definitely beat up,

But all in all,
I was in pretty good shape.

The fact that he came out
of this alive is a miracle.

Lakeman: It's like,
"wow, I'm pretty happy

That I'm going home
with my friends

And not in a pine box."

Narrator: And even though
doug's daring choice

To ride over the fresh snow
likely caused the avalanche,

He did find clarity
in the face of death.

I lost my oldest son in 2008,

And I had a moment where it was
like, "I really miss you,

But I didn't think today
was going to be the day

That I got to see you."

And so I was thinking, you know,
if I do die here,

I'm going to die doing something
that I love to do,

And, you know,
I was kind of at peace with it.

[ motor whirring ]

♪♪

Narrator: Coming up...

Woman: Now, guys! Let's go!

A swirling funnel cloud
terrorizes a family.

Man: Oh, my god!

And...

Woman: Heavenly father,
please help us.

Will anyone escape
this raging inferno?

Woman:
[ whimpering ] oh, my god!

♪♪

♪♪

Man: Got a violent tornado
over there.

Narrator: Volatile...

Holy cow!

...Unpredictable...

Two tornadoes on the ground
right now.

...And beautiful?

Not a word typically used
to describe

Such destructive
forces of nature,

Which are as terrifying
as they are mesmerizing.

But be warned,
these treacherous twisters

Can strike
with surgical precision,

Proving their beauty
is only skin deep.

Oh, my god.

♪♪

[ wind whistling ]

March 2nd, 2012,

West liberty, kentucky.

Kevin adkins and his wife

Are headed to his sister's house
for a celebration.

Adkins: We took off from work
a little early,

My wife, kelly, and I,

To go to a birthday party,

In west liberty,
for some family.

Narrator:
But as soon as they hit the road
for their two-hour drive,

Kevin and kelly
get a rude awakening --

A tornado warning is in effect.

Adkins: There were
lots of warnings on the radio

For the lexington area,

So we thought we were moving
away from the tornado threat.

Narrator:
The couple make it safely to
kevin's sister patsy's house,

But they're not
in the clear yet.

And as soon as I got
to my sister's house,

She was watching some of
the lexington area tv stations

That were providing
24-hour coverage on the tornado.

And we kept checking outside,
and within 15 to 20 minutes,

It was very evident just looking
at the sky that it was coming.

Narrator:
Before their eyes, dark clouds
begin to swirl and then,

Sure enough, a monster twister
is now barreling their way.

Adkins:
The scale of it was so large,
I mean, the noise alone,

It sounds like
a thousand freight trains.

[ wind howling ]

Narrator:
And kevin's sister's house
is directly in the line of fire.

Adkins: My sister's house
is up on a ridge

And there's another ridge
about 400 yards in front of that

That was blocking our view

Of what the tornado was doing
actually on the ground.

The only things that we could
see in terms of debris

Were really large,
blocky-looking things

That were basically
getting pulled all the way up,

You know, two or three
hundred feet up into the cloud.

Narrator: But patsy
is not taking any chances,

As she can be heard
frantically pleading

For everyone to seek refuge
in the basement.

Adkins: Because of her time
living in kansas,

My sister had been exposed to
quite a bit of tornado weather.

She was truly
in fear that her house

Was actually going
to get leveled.

Patsy:
[ shouting ] get in here!

Vagell: She's taking this
very seriously, and she's right,

It's a serious,
dangerous situation.

This wholly-disorganized,
spinning mass of air,

Going something like
140 miles an hour...

[ thunder claps ]

...And you realize
this is destruction,

This is possible death,

This is not something
to fool with.

Narrator: Despite his sister's
desperation,

Kevin and wife kelly remain
on the porch outside.

Adkins: Truthfully,
I was just awestruck,

And it just glued me
to the spot.

You just can't believe
this thing is unfolding

Right in front of you,

That you're actually seeing
what you're seeing.

The noise was just --
it's unbelievable.

[ wind howling ]

I didn't actually move off
the porch until my wife

Just very quietly said,
"kevin, it's time to go."

That went right through
and broke

Whatever spell it was that
this thing had on me.

Narrator:
Kevin and kelly finally
retreat to the basement

Along with patsy
and her husband.

Narrator:
And then...Darkness.

[ heartbeat ]

[ women exclaiming ]

Adkins:
What we had not thought about

Was that the power would go out
and it would be dark.

It definitely created
a sense of foreboding,

Of, "oh, this is coming now."

And, about 20 seconds later,
it was on us.

Man: Oh, my god!

Woman: Oh, it's gonna be insane!

Narrator: Through a window
in the top of the basement door,

Kevin continues to record
as the massive funnel cloud

Rips apart
everything in its path.

You can actually see
what the size of it was

And what's churning up
on the ground --

Pieces of siding, metal roofing,
pieces of small buildings.

That kind's of
when it really hit me --

This was bad.

Delgado:
That's too close for comfort,

Because any of that debris
could come flying through

Some of those windows
that you're seeing,

And you never know
exactly how strong

A structure of a home is.

Adkins: The absurd vision that
kind of flashed through my head

Was this thing going by
in front of me

Was the finger of god,

Just doing this,

And I really couldn't reconcile
why this was happening.

Pinn: Tornadoes are mentioned
throughout the bible,

The hebrew bible,
the new testament.

They are typically associated
with god's will,

A demonstration of god's power.

Man: Oh, my god!

Adkins:
I said, "we're ok. We're ok,"

Trying to comfort my sister.

[ laughing ] I was kind of
saying it to myself

As much as to her.

Narrator:
Kevin and his family members
wait it out in the basement

Until the twister eventually
passes and they are safe.

But the ef3 tornado,
which spared them,

Sadly crashed head-first
into west liberty,

Flattening everything.

Delgado:
West liberty took a beating,

Because this tornado,

It was on the ground
for almost forty minutes.

Can you imagine having that
outside your door,

That beast of a tornado,
for forty minutes?

I mean, I couldn't handle that
just for a few seconds!

Adkins:
We were extremely grateful,

Not only for ourselves,

But because we have family
all over that area.

We were very, very fortunate.

It doesn't hit you
until afterward,

Just how dangerous
the situation was.

This tornado was a punch
in the mouth, for sure,

And it was a big reminder that,
you know,

Nature is definitely
large and in charge.

Narrator: Coming up...

Man: Oh, my gosh!

Massive balls of ice
on a vicious warpath.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
Imagine being out on the lake
on a beautiful summer day.

A little swimming, boating,
maybe a picnic on the shore --

It's the perfect way
to spend an afternoon.

Unless...

That lake starts
getting battered

By huge flying chunks of ice...

Man: Holy [bleep],
we've got some hail!

...Which then attack your house.

Oh, my god! Where do I go?

Oh, my god, have mercy on us.

♪♪

August 18th, 2011,

Carter lake, iowa.

Joseph eibes is enjoying
a relaxing trip

To his parents' house
on the state's western edge.

Eibes:
Living on a lake is great.

You get to go fishing,
tubing, you know.

Hot summer day in the midwest,

You got to love just being able
to cool off on the water.

Narrator:
About 9 a.M., his parents
head out for the day,

Leaving joseph home alone.

Eibes: I was just hanging out,
drinking coffee,

Taking care of some chores.

Next thing I know,

The sky starts getting
real dark and gray,

And then it started
getting the green color.

Narrator: Not surprisingly,
a few seconds later, rain.

But nothing could have
prepared joseph

For what would fall
from the sky next.

[bleep]!

Narrator: Hail, indeed.

But not the size of golf balls,
tennis, or even baseballs...

...The sky is shooting
down monster ice chunks

The size of softballs.

Eibes: This was the biggest hail
I've ever seen.

It's huge!

They went from, "are we
going to get wet? Maybe?"

To softball-sized hail
coming down in like a minute.

It was crazy.

[ banging ]

Oh, my gosh!

Delgado: This is incredible!

In the very beginning,
you're thinking,

"wow, what a great house.

This house is so close
to the lake,"

And then, all of a sudden,
the hail starts coming down.

Wow!

Hail in the united states
is primarily concentrated

In oklahoma, nebraska, iowa.

You have the warm,
moist gulf of mexico air

Collide with arctic air,

And so those are the ideal
conditions to make hail.

Narrator:
Joseph can't believe the scene
unfolding before his eyes.

Oh, my god!

But then, the situation goes
from captivating to frightening.

[ glass breaks ]

As soon as I heard
that glass break,

And I'm hearing hailstones
coming into the kitchen,

Hitting the wood floor,
ricocheting off the furniture,

And that was a terrifying sound.

Oh [bleep]! I'm shaking.

My adrenaline was going off.
My heart was racing.

Oh, my --

The whole earth is shaking
around you, it feels like,

As your house is just getting
pounded to death.

Pinn:
It's a pretty scary scenario.

The power of this ice
hitting the house,

It's terrifying.

You're thinking, "I should be
safe because I'm in my home."

No, I'm not. Look at the windows
at this guy's house!

This is incredibly dangerous.

All I could just hear
was the roar

Of these massive chunks of ice
just pounding the house,

Pounding the windows,
glass breaking.

[ banging ]

Oh, my god.

It just felt like,
"is this ever going to stop?"

Narrator:
Joseph is now a prisoner being
held captive by mother nature.

And if that isn't enough
of a nightmare...

I was terrified that I was
going to get hit

With glass in the face.

I went to as far back away from
that glass side of the house,

Where all the hail
was coming in.

It was just chaos,
this hell amount of hail,

Brutal, absolute destruction
from the skies above.

Oh, mercy!

[ banging ]

Oh. Oh, my god.

I was honestly scared
for my life.

I couldn't turn away,
my hands were shaking,

And I was just terrified,
thinking I might die.

[ banging ]

Oh, my god, have mercy on us.

Narrator: Just as quickly as
the brutal hailstorm started,

It stops.

The hail just went away,
and it was really calm.

The intensity
of that five minutes of terror

Just turned into
a very calming, "whoa,

What did I just go through?"

God was raining
down death by hail.

The house saved me.
The house protected me.

But one hit in the head
by one of these hailstones

And it's over.

[ banging ]

Narrator:
Thankfully, joseph survived
the harrowing ordeal,

But his car and the house
were badly damaged.

Eibes: We had to replace
the entire roof of the house,

And it actually
totaled my vehicle.

The fact is,

When you witness nature's power
coming down on you,

It's humbling.

Oh! Oh!

This was definitely one of
the scariest moments of my life.

I am absolutely ok if I never
have to experience that again.

Oh, mercy!
Oh, my god, have mercy on us!

Narrator: Coming up,
an inferno from hell...

Woman: Go, go, go!

...Closes in on its victims.

[ whimpering ] oh, god.
Oh, my god! It was so scary!

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
Whether it's a landslide...

[ people screaming ]

...Tornadoes, tsunami, or flood,

Escaping a natural disaster

Is an intense,
harrowing experience.

But if you find yourself trapped
in the dangerous clutches

Of a ravenous wildfire...

Man: What is going on?

...With nowhere
to run and nowhere to hide,

Praying for a miracle may be
your best bet...

Woman: Heavenly father,
please help us.

...And only bet
at getting out alive.

[ whimpering ] oh,
my god! It was so scary!

♪♪

November 8th, 2018,

Paradise, california,

Nestled in the foothills
of the sierra nevada mountains.

For many, this quaint ridge town

Is the perfect place
to raise a family.

But there's trouble in paradise.

Just after 6:30 a.M.,
a fire ignites

In a remote canyon
three miles away,

And the winds bellowing
from deep within the canyon

Send the fire airborne,
transforming it

Into an extremely
fast-moving firestorm.

It's called wildfire
for a reason -- it's wild.

It can spread
wherever the wind goes.

Narrator:
Residents are forced to evacuate
immediately

With nothing but
the clothes on their back.

[ car horns honking ]

With only four narrow mountain
roads leading out of town,

Motorists are forced
to make a death-defying escape.

Woman: [ panicked whimpering ]

Man: [ angrily ] come on,
what is going on?

Phoenix: This is basically
everybody's worst nightmare,

And the worst part is that
they're just one family

Out of hundreds that are trying
to flee on this same road.

Woman: [ panting ]

Man: Come on...

They're stuck moving at the pace
of the cars in front of them.

So it just adds to the tension
that they're boxed in.

Narrator:
Evacuees everywhere are now
facing a living nightmare.

Delgado: This is doomsday.

We're talking
about a raging inferno of fire.

It looks like hell,
excuse my language,

But that's what it looks like.

There's a sort of very deep,

Implicit relationship
of trust there,

And she's asking for the help
of the father,

In midst of this,
this crazy fire.

Martin: She's really praying
from her heart

And she's praying for a sense
of calm, which she gets.

One of the most powerful gifts
god gives us in these situations

Is the gift of calm,

Which enables us to see
our way clear and move forward.

Narrator: But can god help them
escape this inferno?

Woman: [ panicked whimpering ]

Oh, my god! [ screams ]

It's not going to take long for
the smoke to start seeping in,

And that can cause more trouble
beyond just breathing.

They're trying to maintain some
sense of balance, some calmness,

But they are surrounded
by the possibility of death.

But they know
they can't just stay there,

They've got to keep moving.

Go, go, go! Just go this way,
baby, just go...

Delgado: In a wildfire,

The temperatures range
anywhere between

1,400 and 1,500
degrees fahrenheit.

You can't even fathom
how hot that is.

So, yes, that is a real reality
of your tires actually burning.

Narrator:
Miraculously, the families
in both of these vehicles

Made it out of this
terrifying inferno alive.

Many others were
not as fortunate.

86 people died.

The town of paradise was
essentially destroyed

In just a few hours.

That's how quickly
this wildfire came through.

[ screams ]

So these people were very lucky
that they got out of here alive.

Woman: Heavenly father,
please help us.

Woman: Oh, my god!

[ whimpers ] it was so scary!

Narrator:
So doomsday has arrived.

What would you do if you were
swept away by raging waters...

Woman: Oh, we're floating!

...Trapped in a crowd during
a brutal microburst...

Man: Please exit the tent!

...Under attack
by massive ice chunks...

Man: Oh, have mercy! Oh, my god!

...Or in the sights
of a twisted twister?

Woman: Please, get in here!

Just hope and pray...

Woman: Heavenly father...

...You live to tell about it.

Woman:
[ whimpering ] oh, my god!
Oh, my god!

♪♪

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