Disaster Area

It might have felt like just a bad day at work - cracks in the walls, the merchandise shaking on the shelves, the air conditioning needing to be turned off. But the Sampoong department store wasn't just falling apart metaphorically. It was quite literally taking all day to fail. Videos: Seconds From Disaster: Superstore Collapse Blueprint for Disaster: Sampoong Collapse Articles and books: Collaps...

In 6th century Constantinople, Emperor Justinian would lead the Byzantine empire into conquering other lands, constructing impressive architecture, and instituting a new legal code that still influences nations today. But before a lot of that was done, Justinian faced the wrath of his subjects, with their rage coming to a head at one of the unlikeliest of places - a chariot race. Videos: Yale Cour...

We all know what a good strong summer thunderstorm looks like, and we know just how much rain one of them can douse us in. But on a warm Friday night in 1972, the eastern foothills of the Black Hills -- and in particular the town of Rapid City, South Dakota -- were struck by storms which broke dams, overflowed creek beds, and killed hundreds. Videos: Disasters of the Century: Rapid City Flood Phot...

It was a beautiful Monday morning in San Diego on September 25, 1978 - sunny and hot with not a cloud in the sky. There was no reason whatsoever to think the day would be ruined by anything, but especially not by two planes colliding over a horrified suburb. Videos: Air Crash Investigation: Blind Spot Allec Joshua Ibay: Blind Spot - 1978 San Diego Mid-Air Collision Articles and books: NTSB report...

When we think of deadly peacetime maritime disasters, Titanic is the first ship to come to mind. But there is a far deadlier disaster which holds the record for the worst in terms of loss of life ... when a loaded oil tanker and a packed ferry collided in the Philippines one moonless night just before Christmas in 1987. Videos: Asia's Titanic Articles and books: Doña Paz victims waiting for justic...

Or where have I been the past three months? (Alas, it's not as interesting as the title makes it sound.)

It should have just been a regular Saturday night dancing to rock music and having a good time at the relatively new dance hall outside of Saint-Laurent, France. But in the early morning hours of November 1st, 1970, what was likely one dropped match or cigarette turned the Club Cinq-Sept into an oven. Videos: Pierre Montillo interview AP News clips of the fire Articles and books: The worst thing i...

It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you,...

It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you,...

NOTE: This was released in May of 2025, but due to life being what it is, I didn't get to finish the final two parts of the episode. So I am rereleasing this episode this week, and the next two weeks I will release the following two episodes. I have now officially backed myself in a corner and I simply MUST finish the episodes now.  It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But...

2001 was not the only year in which something tragic occurred on September 11th. On that day in 1974, eighty-two people would board a plane from Charleston, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina. Only ten would survive. Videos: 9/11/74: The Untold Story of Charlotte's Deadliest Plane Crash Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper's beautiful conversation about grief Talkative Pilots: Eastern Air...

King Henry I of England had grand plans for the future of his sole legitimate male heir, William Aetheling. None of those plans would come to pass. Articles and books: The Sinking Of The White Ship 1120 The White Ship, by Charles Spencer The Impact of the White Ship Disaster of 1120 900 years since the White Ship disaster How one catastrophic shipwreck sank a medieval dynasty Divers find The Tragi...

On a cold April night in 1865, the calm across the waters of the Mississippi River was shattered by a sudden explosion - one which destroyed a steamboat and most of the Confederate POWs crowded on its decks. Videos: Remember the Sultana The History Channel: The Sultana Part-Time Explorer: America's Worst Shipwreck Articles and books: Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime...

On a cold April night in 1865, the calm across the waters of the Mississippi River was shattered by a sudden explosion - one which destroyed a steamboat and most of the Confederate POWs crowded on its decks. Videos: Remember the Sultana The History Channel: The Sultana Part-Time Explorer: America's Worst Shipwreck Articles and books: Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime...

It's the podcast's tenth birthday! Also, where we've been and where we're going.

In the early morning hours of September 22nd, 1993, a cross-country train departed from Mobile, Alabama, on its way to Miami. As it headed up along the train tracks out of the city, the train didn't know one important thing - that half of the bridge over the Big Bayou Canot wasn't there anymore. Videos: Seconds from Disaster: The Wreck of the Sunset Limited Forensic Files: Visibility Zero Rail Dis...

On a sunny Sunday morning in 2017, a man in an SUV pulled up outside a small white church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The people inside would become the targets of the weapons he carried. But when he sped away about twenty minutes later, he would be the one escaping gunfire. Videos: Miracle on 4th Street Sutherland Springs shooter recorded his confession to severe beating of stepson Victims' storie...

On a sunny Sunday morning in 2017, a man in an SUV pulled up outside a small white church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The people inside would become the targets of the weapons he carried. But when he sped away about twenty minutes later, he would be the one escaping gunfire. Videos: Miracle on 4th Street Sutherland Springs shooter recorded his confession to severe beating of stepson Victims' storie...

On a sunny Sunday morning in 2017, a man in an SUV pulled up outside a small white church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The people inside would become the targets of the weapons he carried. But when he sped away about twenty minutes later, he would be the one escaping gunfire. Videos: Miracle on 4th Street Sutherland Springs shooter recorded his confession to severe beating of stepson Victims' storie...

A week ago, the Guadalupe River in Texas overflowed its banks and swept away dozens of campers. It turns out that this is not the first time it's done so - and not the first time some of those campers didn't survive. Videos: "Rescue 911" segment on the tragedy Señor Onion's Archives: Guadalupe Flood of 1987 Sheriff recounts tragic Comfort, TX flood The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? Articles a...

(Podcaster's note: The second part of the Cutter incident episode is forthcoming; I'm just trying to get it juuuuuust right. :)) November 7th, 2018, was just supposed to be another fun night of drinking and line dancing at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, CA. But at 11:18 PM, all of that ended in an instant. Videos: TikTok: shannon_mcgee visiting the site 1.5 years later TikTok: Offi...

It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you,...

In a bustling city of pirates and wickedness, one might think things couldn't get any more dangerous. But in the Jamaican city of Port Royal in 1692, that thought would be tested, and tested hard. Videos: History of Port Royal (Underwater Cities) Articles and books: Apocalypse 1692: Empire, Slavery, and the Great Port Royal Earthquake , by Ben Hughes Historic Earthquakes: Jamaica, 1692 June 07 UTC...

To raise money for car repairs, Jennifer answers the question you've all been wondering - how well can she talk about a disaster while ... let's say "not sober." Please help Jennifer fix her car! It takes our esteemed cohost Professor on rides to go see cows and he therefore cannot live without it. Links below: GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/59bec8ad Paypal: disasterarea@mail.com Cashapp: $disasterar...

It was almost the end of a typical Tuesday for workers at the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, South Carolina, in June of 2007, and several of them went out to the loading dock to smoke and kill a little time. One stray cigarette butt thrown too near the trash, and within an hour and a half nine firefighters would be dead. Videos: Charleston Fire Department's recovery from deadly Sofa Super Store f...