The History Channel

In this episode, a flaming tornado terrorizes a team of firefighters. A Hawaiian volcano wipes an island paradise off the map. And an avalanche of rocks and debris obliterate a village in Honduras.

Hurricane Sandy was one of the most devastating super storms to hit our shores, claiming over 160 lives and causing billions of dollars in damage. This special examines what happened when Sandy hit and how it happened. We also hunt for clues that could reveal if we are entering an age when bigger, more deadly storms will become a regular occurrence. Is it possible to tell when the next super storm will strike and ultimately will we be prepared?

Join us for the amazing story of one of nature's most terrifying forces. With striking visuals from ships in storm-tossed seas, the special presents dramatic tales of rogue wave disasters throughout history, and explores the astonishing scientific discoveries surrounding this deadly phenomenon. Aided by mind-blowing CGI footage from the motion picture Poseidon by Wolfgang Petersen, director of The Perfect Storm, we reveal the awesome power of this ocean menace as it really is--a monster rising from the deep!

Pablo Escobar was Colombia's king of cocaine, a man his own government was afraid to touch. But he also violated the dead, set fire to millions in cash to keep warm and actually helped the US hunt down Osama Bin Laden. Outspoken historian David Eisenbach probes the world of narcotrafficking and uncovers things you didn't know about Escobar.

Mother Nature unleashes a swarm of tornados on a group of storm chasers. A delivery driver in Japan gets swallowed by the deadliest tsunami in Japan's history. And finally, a massive avalanche barrels into a small town in Norway.

For generations, Alaska has exerted a powerful pull as the place to head for a job like no other; work that promises the adventure of a lifetime, the chance to strike it rich, and the very real prospect of never making it back alive. Plying their trades on America's last frontier, soldiers, Coast Guard crewmen, bush pilots, and truckers all work for the same boss from hell: a dangerous territory full of the most inhospitable weather and extreme terrain on earth. Even today, Alaska boasts four of the country's top 10 most dangerous jobs. We'll feature dramatic stories of four killer jobs from the last 150 years of Alaskan history and experience what it takes to survive and thrive in this intense and harsh climate by riding along with today's workers and hearing from old-timers who forged the way. And we'll weave in the traditions, technology, and tools that can mean the difference between life and death in Alaska's killer jobs.

America's infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation's highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.

In recent years the destructive power of natural disasters has been recorded--from Hurricane Katrina to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. Serial Killer Earth brings together a top team of experts to examine the most compelling footage from news and home video, as well as hear from eyewitness testimony in order to explain, understand and inform viewers of what actually happened during these disasters and how they compare and contrast with the most historic natural disasters of the past. In this episode, a massive tornado rips through a Midwestern town, destroying everything in it's path. Mother Nature unleashes a giant wall of snow in Canada and sends a monster tsunami into southeast Asia, killing two hundred and eighty three thousand people.

A massive landslide chases a group of construction workers. A tornado tears through an airport; and an earthquake threatens a 700-year-old church. Mother Nature continues her killing spree.

Where in Washington D.C. is the nation's most incredible treasure chest? It's a library unlike any other in the world--the U.S. Library of Congress. Explode the myth that this 200-year-old institution is simply "where members of Congress borrow books." Viewers are taken beyond the magnificent Jefferson Building Great Hall into the secret vaults where more than 600 miles of shelves hold 130 million items, many of them priceless treasures--from George Washington's hand-written diaries to Galileo's first images of the moon to the original camera film of the movie Frankenstein. See how a staff of 4,000 catalogues protects and preserves these treasures and distributes them globally via a new World Digital Library.

The Alaska Ocean is the largest factory-fishing boat in the US fleet. The crew's mission: hunt down, catch and process 300 tons of Alaskan Pollock each day on the unforgiving waters of the Bering Sea. We travel with them on the last voyage of a long and grueling season. The crew reveals the inner workings of one of the most sophisticated and complex vessels afloat. It is half fishing boat, half floating factory, processing and flash freezing Alaskan Pollock as fast as its crew can catch it. To meet their seasonal quota of Pollock, the crew must overcome obstacles of weather, mechanical dangers aboard the sea-tossed ship and the wiliness of the fish themselves. Captain Scott Symonds takes us inside the amazing ultra-modern world of high stakes commercial fishing where a wrong decision on his part can cost not just the season's catch, but also the lives of his crew.

For more than a thousand years, the Ta no people flourished on the islands comprising the Greater Antilles--modern-day Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Five centuries ago, they seemingly vanished--millions of people gone in the blink of an eye. The DSD team explores the archaeological record, a lost city deep in the jungle, disturbing legends, and secret water-filled caves to learn how a people rich in natural resources could so quickly fall victim to malnutrition and unspeakable violence. The most sacred of their caves, known as "eyes of the beast", hold artifacts in their murky depths that may reveal the true fate of the Ta no.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

September 14, 1944--the South Pacific. While clearing mines for the Allied invasion of the Palau Islands, the USS Perry is rocked by a huge explosion and immediately begins to list. All hands abandon ship into open waters, drawing enemy fire from shore. Two days later the Allied invasion begins and quickly becomes one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific Campaign--the Battle of Peleliu. Deep Sea Detectives John Chatterton and Richie Kohler follow one survivor's journey to find the USS Perry's final resting place...and try to bring closure to an unfinished journey of their own.

For generations, Alaska has exerted a powerful pull as the place to head for a job like no other; work that promises the adventure of a lifetime, the chance to strike it rich, and the very real prospect of never making it back alive. Plying their trades on America's last frontier, soldiers, Coast Guard crewmen, bush pilots, and truckers all work for the same boss from hell: a dangerous territory full of the most inhospitable weather and extreme terrain on earth. Even today, Alaska boasts four of the country's top 10 most dangerous jobs. We'll feature dramatic stories of four killer jobs from the last 150 years of Alaskan history and experience what it takes to survive and thrive in this intense and harsh climate by riding along with today's workers and hearing from old-timers who forged the way. And we'll weave in the traditions, technology, and tools that can mean the difference between life and death in Alaska's killer jobs.

America's infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation's highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.

In recent years the destructive power of natural disasters has been recorded--from Hurricane Katrina to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. Serial Killer Earth brings together a top team of experts to examine the most compelling footage from news and home video, as well as hear from eyewitness testimony in order to explain, understand and inform viewers of what actually happened during these disasters and how they compare and contrast with the most historic natural disasters of the past. In this episode, a massive tornado rips through a Midwestern town, destroying everything in it's path. Mother Nature unleashes a giant wall of snow in Canada and sends a monster tsunami into southeast Asia, killing two hundred and eighty three thousand people.