Rise of the Superstorms Full Special | PBS America

In summer 2017, three monster hurricanes swept in from the Atlantic one after another, shattering storm records and killing hundreds of people. Dive into the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. How can scientists better predict these storms, and what does the 2017 season tell us about the likelihood of similar storms in the future?

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[LaramidiaWX]

It's nice to see some things haven't changed since I was a kid and one of them is that PBS/Nova makes excellent documentaries. Thank you!

[warrenmitchell]

Good afternoon, thank you for sharing this educational video. I am an educator and frequently uses these documentaries in my classroom for Geography classes to educate students about hydrometeorological phenomena like these. I had the wrath of Hurricane Irma and Maria two weeks apart in the Turks and Caicos island archipelago. On the island of Grand Turk, 90% of all telecommunication equipment was damaged, there were no electricity, water, internet for about 6 weeks.

[pvpexoy]

The Gulf Stream used to be 2hour steam off Kurdo Banque, ESE of Main-a-Dieu, Cape Breton Island, NS, Canada. Now it is on Kurdo Banque. The stream is moving closer to Nova Scotia shoreline. This is affecting weather in the area. Shark's are a lot more plentiful now. Water's are warming.

[susancroft]

Sorry you didn’t mention my tiny island of Anguilla that Irma DESTROYED! It looked like a war zone. Worst Hurricane ever lost my house ! Gone!

[S.AK]

No one does it better than PBS.

So knowledgeable, well made, well researched content.

Better than our schooling system.

[josephalberta]

I remember Maria. I think thats the one where trump went to Puerto Rico and complained about the budget while throwing toilet paper at them. Then they refused to allow non American ships to bring aid. Where are they going to get billions in tax breaks for millionaires if poor people keep asking for help after hurricanes? What a fearless leader. I am surprised they didnt declare complete independence after that fiasco. I dont know if they ever fully recovered.

[wishyoucouldbeme]

I remember watching the news half way round the world about this and just not understanding how the infrastructure could be so unprepared for this. It was a couple years after my area got hit by an equally is not stronger cyclone and the damage to the towns was minimal compared to this and the death toll 0. All of our infrastructure was built to government standards to purposefully withstand category 5 cyclones and prevent flooding. I couldn't believe that America didn't even have minimum standards

[DistinctiveBlend]

this is just a taste of what will come as there's more energy in the system and we keep adding to it

[dronetrunks]

It's currently storm season across the mid-west. Please stay on alert and listen to storm warnings. If you have time to get out the way don't hesitate!

[BROWNDIRTWARRIOR]

PBS you have a public responsibility to document the truth about how bad this problem is about to become because of inaction. We need a full throated documentary on what alarm bells the serious climate scientists are sounding about what is coming as we cross the 1.5 degree threshold. We are in serious trouble and society needs to be properly informed with no sugar coating.

[collinstanton]

These are Dangerous and foreboding times, especially give the appearance of an incredible proliferation of profound human indifference of our world's health, and what the future holds for our planet.

[IbnBahtuta]

If it trashes trees, it trashes houses built of wood. Here in England, we have a nursery rhyme that tells you how to avoid getting your house blown down. It basically amounts to telling you to build your house out of bricks and mortar. Who'd a thunk it?

[Sharon-ykxm]

Man will be the past just like those from the past will become our future

[nicolarollinson]

6 years ago. What has happened since then? I wonder. Are these places prepared for future events. How are the residents faring?

[markwentz]

Is living in these area's not the very definition of insanity?

I'm just a land locked Canadian but i just shake my head thinking about this.

[geofflewis]

..You have to wonder what storms were like during the Jurassic when the average temperature was up to 15 degrees higher than today and there was no ice on Earth..

[danielmohammed]

I remember this tropical storm passed over us her in Trinidad and tobago in the main developing region leaving flooding land slips and other bad things

[audrey]

I live in western Canada. Like in the prairies and we don’t experience stuff like this. This is so interesting and crazy to me. We do get extreme cold where we have to watch electricity use or the grid will overload and shut down. Due to inflation, we have more homeless people. So in these extreme cold weather periods, emergency heated shelters are set up.

[kimp]

Whew! 2017 was a hell of a yr. Here in the BVI we took a beating like we never felt before with Irma. The eye passed directly over us & put a lashing on these islands. Never experienced such devastation before I couldn't see how we would recover from the massive level of damage. We were out of power from Sept right thru till 2018 as the crews worked to get power restored. Volunteer workers from otr islands were brought in the help with the local electricity staff. My power came back in Jan while otr ppl got theirs Feb/Mar.

Unlike the US, we in the Caribbean build predominantly concrete homes, wooden homes would just be suicidal. Irma however came with a strength unlike anything we ever saw & did significant damage to some homes beyond repair.

Huge death tolls were expected once the seriousness of the storm was forecasted hence why the UK sent their ship with body bags but they failed to realized how we build our homes.

Maria came 2 wks later but thankfully we missed a direct hit🙏🏽

[hevchip]

good info and easy to understand. these thing happen and its 9awful to many but still we all abuse this planet and power. who stops using their tv, stops going on holidays, cuts down drastically on their electricity use, we are all to blame, some more than most, but that doesn't give us small users the right to stop cutting back.