Natural Disasters
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Natural Disasters
Tsunamis, volcanoes, tornadoes, earthquakes...these are real-life monsters. We like to think we’re prepared for a catastrophe. But time and time again, Mother Nature proves us wrong. Each week, Natural Disasters examines the earth’s biggest catastrophes that took countless lives, destroyed communiti...
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Chelyabinsk Meteor
On February 15, 2013, a fireball streaked over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk and exploded. The residents below worried it was a missile—but really,...
Mann Gulch Wildfire Tragedy Pt. 2
The blow-up of the 1949 Mann Gulch Wildfire had tragic consequences for a team of wildland firefighters. The event catalyzed a new era in fire safety,...
Mann Gulch Wildfire Tragedy Pt. 1
On August 5th, 1949, a lightning strike touched off a small wildfire in Montana's Helena National Forest. A team of smokejumpers were dispatched to fi...
Ohio Fireworks Derecho
During the 1969 Independence Day fireworks celebrations in Lakewood, Ohio, a massive windstorm called a derecho struck without warning. Some of the 20...
Lake Nyos Toxic Gas Cloud
In 1986, a deep volcanic lake in Cameroon erupted half a million tons of carbon dioxide. The toxic gas washed over the surrounding countryside with de...
The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Pt. 2
The tsunami rose out of the ocean on the morning of December 26th, 2004, after a 9.2 magnitude earthquake. After wreaking havoc in Indonesia, the wave...
The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Pt. 1
On December 26th, 2004, the beaches of Indonesia and Thailand were brimming with tourists on their Christmas holidays. That morning, one of the larges...
The Cheniere Caminada Hurricane Pt. 2
On October 3rd, 1893, the fishing community of Cheniere Caminada awoke to a nightmare. A category 4 hurricane had wiped out the region, leaving hundre...
The Cheniere Caminada Hurricane Pt. 1
On October 2nd, 1893, a category 4 hurricane made landfall on the southeast coast of Louisiana. It slammed into the fishing community of Cheniere Cami...
Kisii Lightning Strikes
Kenya’s Kisii County sees around 30 lightning strike fatalities per year. While this phenomena is largely due to high elevation and thunderstorms, oth...
The Great Molasses Flood Pt. 2
On the morning of January 15th, 1919, two million gallons of molasses wreaked havoc on the North End. The cleanup process was arduous, with the flood...
The Great Molasses Flood Pt. 1
On the morning of January 15th, 1919, a deluge of two million gallons of molasses swept over Boston's North End. Startled residents ran for shelter an...
The Children’s Blizzard Pt. 2
As the blizzard raged on through the afternoon of January 12th, 1888, schoolhouses across South Dakota became emergency shelters. Some children tried...
The Children’s Blizzard Pt. 1
At midday on January 12th, 1888, the northern plains of South Dakota were struck by a deadly blizzard. Many teachers and school children were caught o...
Toxic Flood of Hungary Pt. 2
After a flood of toxic waste inundated the region around Akja, Hungary in October 2010, the residents of the area rushed to save those trapped and poi...
NEW: Toxic Flood of Hungary Pt. 1
We are thrilled to bring you a brand new episode of Natural Disasters today and for the foreseeable future. We thank you for your patience during this...
Crossover Week: Medical Mysteries (Leishmaniasis Pt. 2)
If you enjoy the true stories told in Natural Disasters, check out this episode from our series Medical Mysteries: It wasn’t until Doug Preston and hi...
Crossover Week: Medical Mysteries (Leishmaniasis Pt. 1)
If you enjoy the true stories told in Natural Disasters, check out this episode from our series Medical Mysteries: Explorers set out on an expedition...
Toba Supervolcano
Seventy-five thousand years ago, the Toba Supervolcano decimated the Indonesian archipelago. It was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history a...
Parcast Classic: The Tunguska Event
Due to the unfortunate spread of COVID-19, Parcast has decided to halt recording for the time-being. This is a precautionary measure taken to ensure t...
Potato Famine Pt. 2
By the late 1840s, with no end in sight to the potato famine gripping Ireland and no help coming from the British government, the Irish people were le...
Potato Famine Pt. 1
In 1845, a fungus destroyed Ireland’s potato crops, leaving the Irish population without its main food source. The first months of the famine morphed...
The Big Burn Pt. 2
As the vast chain of wildfires known as the Big Burn spread across the northern Rockies in 1910, teams of Forest Rangers, firefighters, and normal cit...
The Big Burn Pt. 1
It was the largest natural blaze in U.S. history—the result of human agricultural inexperience, a freak climate, and unbridled westward expansion by A...
Great Lakes Storm of 1913 Pt. 2
From November 7th through the 10th, 1913, the Great Lakes of North America experienced one of the worst storms on record for the region. The inland cy...
Great Lakes Storm of 1913 Pt. 1
In 1913, an inland cyclone struck Lake Superior and Lake Huron and buried the city of Cleveland in snow. Several freighters went to the bottom of the...
The Great Flood of Paris Pt. 2
During the last week of January 1910, the citizens of Paris fought to survive a deluge of freezing water and raw sewage that covered their city. Polic...
The Great Flood of Paris Pt. 1
For the six months leading up to January 1910, France experienced record-setting rainfall that predicated one of the worst floods in history. By the t...
Mt. Vesuvius Volcanic Eruption Pt. 2
The majority of Pompeiians traveled south to other villages, or escaped by boat on the Bay of Naples. However, some 2000 residents chose to remain in...
Mt. Vesuvius Volcanic Eruption Pt. 1
In 79 CE, the Roman citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum believed that Mount Vesuvius was an extinct volcano. That is, until the mountain exploded—fill...
Okeechobee Hurricane Pt. 2
After the Okeechobee Hurricane ravaged the town of Belle Glade in 1928, citizens struggled to recover from the storm’s deadly wake. The official death...
Okeechobee Hurricane Pt. 1
In 1928, one of the deadliest storms ever recorded in the North Atlantic basin began to form off the coast of Africa. As it approached the Florida coa...
Best of 2019: The 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak Pt. 2
Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: A wave of storms that devastated the southern United States in 2011. Known as the Super...
Best of 2019: The 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak Pt. 1
Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: On April 27th, 2011, the clouds were low and dark—intense winds whipping around. It was...
The Haiti Earthquake Pt. 2
Haiti’s devastating earthquake made international headlines in 2010. In the years following the disaster, it became clear that the international commu...
The Haiti Earthquake Pt. 1
On January 12th, 2010, a 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, killing over 300,000 people. The quake was just the most recent calami...
The Dust Veil
A devastating event from 536-537 C.E. where a dry, blue fog darkened skies across Europe and Asia for over a year, causing a drop in temperatures, dro...
The Tunguska Event
A massive explosion that occurred in the remote wilderness of Russia in 1908. Though more than a century has passed since it took place, the exact cau...
The Chicago Heat Wave Pt. 2
Extreme temperatures would kill more than 700 Chicagoans over the course of 5 days in July of 1995. The tragedy would leave a scar on the city’s histo...
The Chicago Heat Wave Pt. 1
On July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temper...