- 21 minutes ago
Discover what it's like to live in the United States' Tornado Alley, Australia's bushfire-prone wilderness and Antarctica's brutal cold.
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00:23You might be warm in bed tonight, but look at these places.
00:27Welcome to 72 of the world's most dangerous places to live.
00:32Some people choose to live here, but would you even dare to visit?
00:36In fact, thousands of tourists flock to dangerous destinations every year.
00:41Some are on extreme journeys in pursuit of an authentic experience,
00:45ticking the adventure tourism box.
00:47They're remote, hard to get to, and a risk you may never forget.
00:52These are places that may feel unnerving, unbelievable.
00:56They may trap your attention or be seemingly harmless.
01:00But the time bomb is ticking, ready to take you by surprise.
01:0572 dangerous places to live.
01:07Some call it home sweet home.
01:10Others, no looks can be deceiving.
01:13First up, we take a wild ride into Tornado Central.
01:17For most, it's time to take cover.
01:19But for a few, they say bring it on.
01:25Tornadoes can happen almost anywhere.
01:28But there's one place in the world that gets far more than anywhere else.
01:32The Tornado Alley section of the United States.
01:36If you live in Central USA, you're no stranger to tornadoes.
01:43Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska in particular,
01:47experience some of the most explosive thunderstorms on the planet.
01:51Every year, the locals must prepare to batten down the hatches
01:55and retreat to their basements.
01:57But not everyone takes this approach.
01:59They're obviously very dangerous and deadly.
02:01But at the same time, they can be so beautiful.
02:04As long as it's not hitting a town, of course.
02:08For storm chaser George Coronas,
02:10this is one of the most exciting seasons of the year.
02:13The essence of storm chasing is long periods of boredom,
02:18punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
02:22Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
02:24I can't close the door!
02:25Don't worry about it! Go!
02:27The U.S. can get anywhere between 800 and 1,200 tornadoes every year,
02:32making it prime hunting ground to get up close and personal
02:36to these supercell storms.
02:38And for the brave of heart, that's exactly what George
02:41and the team of chasers provide, tornado tours.
02:45Yes, that's a thing.
02:47People come from all over the world, meet up with us in Oklahoma,
02:52and we take them out for two-week trips to go and see the biggest,
02:55baddest weather on the planet.
02:57When you look at where Tornado Alley is situated,
02:59you can see how it was given its name.
03:02Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, cooler, drier air from the north,
03:06the jet stream overhead, and a dry line from the desert air off the west.
03:11You don't get much better tornado fuel than that.
03:14They are the most extreme winds in the world.
03:17Some of them can be over 300 miles an hour.
03:21At that point, wind starts to act more like a solid than a gas.
03:26So, it's not so much that the wind is blowing, it's what the wind is blowing.
03:31Blunt force trauma is the number one killer in tornadoes.
03:36Professionals know never to underestimate the natural, raw power of tornadoes.
03:41Wow!
03:42Back up!
03:43Conditions can change in the blink of an eye,
03:45and if you're on the wrong side of one of these unpredictable monsters,
03:49you may find you're not in Kansas anymore.
03:53Tornadoes are, they're not alive, but they sometimes feel like they are alive.
03:58They have personalities.
03:59There's been a few close encounters over the years.
04:04Just recently, we had one where we were in Nebraska,
04:08and a tornado formed right beside us,
04:10and the tornado pushed this large piece of farmer's irrigation equipment
04:16over and right directly into our windshield.
04:22Oh boy!
04:23Luckily, we only took a slight hit.
04:26It was pretty scary.
04:28When you're brushing up with some of the deadliest storms on the planet,
04:31you can expect trouble.
04:33There was a tornado that was so big,
04:35it was actually the largest tornado that anyone has ever documented.
04:42It was 2.6 miles wide.
04:44And it was absolutely frightening.
04:48I found out later that some colleagues of mine lost their lives.
04:51Even if you do everything right,
04:54you can still find yourself in a lot of trouble.
04:58Oh, man!
04:59The tornado that really sticks out in my mind
05:01as being dangerous and deadly that we were on
05:05was the Joplin, Missouri EF5 tornado.
05:10The storm-packed winds in excess of 200 miles per hour
05:14and was on the ground for more than 22 miles.
05:17There were entire neighborhoods swept clean, just gone.
05:24That day was...
05:30So it always is going to stick in my mind.
05:34We never want to see that.
05:36When you're choosing your next adventure,
05:38tornado chasing may be on your list.
05:40When choosing a place to live, however...
05:43Personally, I've been storm chasing for almost 20 years.
05:46I don't think I would live in Oklahoma.
05:50Each danger zone featured in 72 dangerous places
05:54will be ranked according to lifestyle, potential threat,
05:57what help is available, and whether you will survive.
06:00Survival and fear are different for everyone.
06:03Will your top 10 dangerous places match ours?
06:06In Tornado Alley, the locals face multiple threats
06:10of wild, destructive storms every year.
06:13So it comes in at number 6.
06:15But from 6 to 66, there is still great risk
06:18as we take the long trek into one of the world's most remote homes.
06:25Find an extreme location that's incredibly isolated
06:28and pretty much impossible to get to,
06:31and you've probably found an ideal spot for a monastery.
06:35Fuktal Monastery, hidden high in the Himalayas in northern India,
06:40is one of the most inaccessible.
06:42Built in the mouth of a cave and out across the cliff face
06:46roughly 700 years ago, the question begs to be asked...
06:50How in the hell do they build something like this?
06:54Described as looking like giant honeycomb,
06:57Fuktal Monastery is a unique construction of mud and timber.
07:01And although it was built in the 12th century,
07:03it wasn't revealed to the rest of the world until the 1820s.
07:08The monastery is now frequently visited by tourists
07:11who stay as guests of the monks.
07:13But at 12,500 feet high, the trek-in isn't for the faint-hearted.
07:18If you want to see Fuktal Monastery for yourself, you have to walk in.
07:24Every hard-earned step is the only way that's going to get you to see this monastery.
07:30Home to almost 70 monks, the history of the cave goes back 2,500 years
07:36when it was believed to have been visited by important sages and scholars.
07:40Today, this sanctuary is also a training ground for young monks.
07:44The Fuktal Monastic School was founded in 1993 with a new purpose-built campus established in 2014.
07:53But disaster struck a year later when the Fuktal River flooded and washed away the entire school.
08:00Of course, in the face of adversity, life at the monastery goes on.
08:05The teachings continue and visitors determined to make it to the top keep coming
08:10and often leave with an overwhelming sense of achievement and humility.
08:15From a hideaway high in the Himalayas to another isolated community,
08:20this one ranks highly as once you're in, there's no quick way to get out.
08:27You might as well be on the moon, it's just something so different from what you normally experience.
08:34Ice, snow, rock, water and an abundance of sea life.
08:39Welcome to the coldest, windiest, driest and highest continent on the planet.
08:45We were told that if we heard the ice crack, just to run.
08:50It is a place capable of winds well over 320 kilometers per hour
08:55and stores 90% of the world's fresh water.
08:58At one and a half times the size of the U.S.
09:01and with a world record of minus 89.2 degrees Celsius,
09:06living here is a constant battle of the extremes.
09:08Yet many do, with 46 countries from around the world all united by a common purpose,
09:15supporting and developing scientific research for our planet.
09:19Anthony Powell is one person who waved goodbye to the last leaving vessel
09:23and bunkered down for one of the longest winters in the world.
09:27My first trip down there was in 1998, so working as a communications tech.
09:33But I didn't really get it out of my system, so yeah, back again for a second year
09:39and then by then I was pretty well hooked actually.
09:42So it's the last pristine landscape left on the planet really.
09:46There's nowhere else like it.
09:48Living in this alien landscape requires a huge amount of preparation,
09:52particularly come winter when the population drops to a skeleton crew
09:57and there are no means of leaving.
09:59You go for a full range of medical examinations.
10:02There's very limited medical facilities available.
10:06There was a case in the 1960s when one of the Russian doctors had to take his own appendix out.
10:13Whilst having your appendix out is not essential,
10:16if you have any niggling pains you might want to consider it.
10:19There's already enough to contend with up against Mother Nature.
10:22You'd typically be wearing, you know, 10 or 12 kgs of extra clothing just to keep yourself warm.
10:29Thermal underwear, soles that are about 30 mils thick, heavy duty socks,
10:34police slayers, a really big heavy duty one over top of that, down jacket, insulated leggings as well.
10:40Then there's the ever evolving landscape, with summer and winter each presenting their own challenges.
10:45I'm actually standing on top of about six feet of sea ice at the moment,
10:50which can be a little bit disconcerting until you take into account that they're landing airplanes like this
10:56that weigh over 200 tons on it.
10:59Three months later, that runway is gone.
11:02Getting there can be almost as treacherous as living in the isolated country,
11:06traveling through icy depths, foreboding mists, storms and huge swells.
11:12Adventure photographer Bob Humphreys sailed to Antarctica in 2014
11:16and knows all too well what could happen.
11:19If you were to fall in, you would only have minutes to live.
11:23You'd basically be paralyzed with cold and go into hypothermia and not be able to do anything,
11:29because your brain would stop working and your muscles would seize up.
11:33To say it's cold in Antarctica is an understatement.
11:37You know, roundabout freezing is not too bad.
11:39When it gets to minus 20, you'll feel the hairs up your nose freeze over.
11:44Minus 40, the rubber tires on the tracks will freeze solid.
11:49Then you get down to minus 60 and things are starting to get pretty nasty.
11:54Any wind on top of that is just absolutely brutal.
11:57And then there's times you just cannot go outside.
12:00In what is known as a condition one, the weather is a combination of wind speeds over 102 kilometers per
12:07hour.
12:07Temperature is below minus 73 degrees Celsius and visibility less than 30 meters.
12:13Check this out.
12:17This is the entryway to our dorm.
12:22Normally this has carpet on the ground and the walls are just normally walls, you know.
12:26But we're going to open the door right now.
12:28It's a little bit like opening up the door to another world.
12:33Are you ready?
12:34Ah!
12:44It's a little bit blowy out there right now.
12:47Although this is one of the hardest places to settle, nights in are often an easy decision.
12:52There are several churches, a post office, even access to internet and phone reception.
12:57In the ultimate icebreaker, one scientist actually got a date through Tinder with a girl camping just 45 minutes away.
13:05Proving love can blossom here just as much as anywhere else.
13:08My third year at Scott Base, Christine, who was working at McMurdo Station.
13:14I popped the question and we got married down there.
13:19Maintaining this way of living, however, is tricky and in many cases essential to survival.
13:25When you're working in such harsh conditions, there is little room for error.
13:29When you're working there, you like have an A plan and a B plan and a C plan and a
13:33D plan.
13:34You just have to have backup upon backup upon backup and then a backup and reserve.
13:39And there's been a couple of times when I've actually had to resort all the way down to plan D
13:44to stay safe.
13:46The other thing is the polar T3 syndrome.
13:50In the extreme cold, T3, a thyroid hormone that regulates body temperature, gets used so much that the brain is
13:58left with less than an adequate supply, making it slow, forgetful, unfocused and moody.
14:04Probably one of the biggest effects would have to be a short-term memory loss.
14:09You also notice that your speech tends to drop off a lot.
14:14By the end of the winter, we were pretty much just communicating by grunting and pointing.
14:21Just to really top matters off, Antarctica hosts the southernmost active volcano.
14:26Mount Erebus regularly erupts and is closely monitored from McMurdo Station, just 37 kilometers away.
14:32By contrast, this continent was once as warm as modern-day California.
14:38And although it's hard to believe, it could be headed that way again.
14:41We're seeing some massive melting in the glaciers now.
14:44The flow-on effect from that is just going to be massive over the next 50 years or so.
14:49It's only really just starting to enter the wider public consciousness than the things that we've been seeing for years
14:56now.
14:57It seems not even this corner of the globe can be left untouched, despite the treacherous journey it takes to
15:04get there.
15:04In the meantime, though, adventurers, explorers, scientists and the world audience will continue to enjoy the magic of the endlessly
15:12white, rugged wilderness that is Antarctica.
15:18The lure of Antarctica captures many adventurers, whether for a quick visit or a place to call home.
15:26But our next spot has had their home life destroyed, all in the name of progress.
15:32When the Soviet Union embarked on an expansion of its cotton-growing industry in the Aral Sea region in the
15:391960s, it was a success.
15:41But the cost has been enormous.
15:43Growing cotton in a desert requires incredible reserves of water, so the Soviets promptly diverted the Aral Sea's two main
15:51feeder rivers to a vast irrigation network that has sustained the cotton industry ever since, but has also wasted the
15:58bulk of the water it's carried through poor engineering.
16:02Before they were diverted, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world.
16:07A thriving fishing industry operated out of Moynak on the southern shore and Aralsk in the north.
16:13But as the waters started receding, the fishing fleets were left high and dry, and the communities watched their livelihoods
16:20and economies disappear.
16:22The towns also shrunk. After boasting populations of 40 and 50,000 in the 1970s, Moynak and Aralsk are today
16:31only about half the size.
16:33Compounding this environmental catastrophe is the agricultural fertilizer and chemical runoff that seeped into the shrinking lake, drying into a
16:42layer of toxic dust that blows over the embattled towns during high winds, leaving locals with health issues that will
16:49plague them for generations.
16:51Now barely 10% of its former size, what has happened to the Aral Sea and the people that relied
16:57on it for a living is no less than a tragedy.
17:03From no water to way too much, enter a country that has engineered its way to new heights.
17:16They're fighting a war against the sea. Walls, wind and sheer determination. Engineering might be the only force keeping this
17:25country's head above water.
17:27Give us a bit of water and we turn it into land.
17:31Living in the shadow of the North Sea is everyday life for the 16.5 million people who call the
17:37Netherlands home.
17:38Water is such a part of our lives living in the Netherlands. It's everywhere.
17:43A country that is sinking. A country that is living on borrowed land.
17:50Global warming is a grim reality for densely populated Netherlands, where its lowest city lies seven meters below sea level,
17:58and more than half of the country is only one meter above sea level.
18:03For the past 2,000 years, the Dutch have fought for dry land. Farmers used canals and primitive dikes to
18:10drain the soil. But the more they drained, the more they sunk. And the raging North Sea remained a persistent
18:17threat.
18:22Devastating floods claimed thousands of lives and changed the shape of their country. In 1953, dikes that were weakened by
18:30World War II collapsed, giving the Dutch a taste of what can happen.
18:34My parents bought an old farmhouse in Outdoor. That place is one meter below sea level. In 1953, that house
18:46was terribly damaged, and only half of the house was still standing.
18:51All you could see were dead cows, dead cattle, and these poor people sitting on top of the roof, just
18:58waiting to be rescued.
19:00Fear of more catastrophe drove the Dutch to create what is today the most impressive flood protection system in the
19:07world.
19:08The building of the Delta Works started in 1954, straight after the tragedy, and it was only finished in 1986.
19:19Changing weather patterns could see these masters of water manipulation unable to keep up with nature's fury.
19:25The risk is undeniable, though history would suggest the Netherlands won't go down without a very strong fight.
19:35Ranked at number 63 on our list, the Netherlands holds tight against a possible natural disaster.
19:41But our next spot lays openly exposed to the rage of Mother Nature's might.
19:54Australia.
19:56Adored the world over for its sun, surf, and sand.
20:00That may be true on the coastal fringes, but travel away from the beaches toward the heart of the mainland,
20:05and you'll find a vast, dry, red center.
20:10Locals love to describe Australia as their sunburnt country, and they're right.
20:15Those warmer months bring plenty of sunshine.
20:18But on the flip side, the destructive burn of a bushfire is only ever a spark away.
20:25We'd come home from holidays, and we arrived the afternoon that the fire had happened.
20:30We kind of drove down our driveway and looked, and there was this big plume of smoke, and we went,
20:34oh, that's not too good.
20:36The house actually went down at five o'clock by the time it actually burnt, and we watched it burn.
20:43I really wanted to save it, but I just remember closing the door and saying goodbye, just leaving everything behind.
20:52So we just picked up the bags that we'd had for our holidays and put them back in our car,
20:56and we left.
20:57And we honestly thought we'd be back the next morning, and we didn't get back for days.
21:03You get in the car, well, where am I going? Hang on, I've got no home to go to.
21:08The people who lived here have been living with bushfire for such a long time, but I don't think anything
21:15really prepares you for it until you're actually in the middle of it.
21:19And then it was just very painful, and it was heartbreaking.
21:22I knew my house had burnt down because I actually saw it.
21:25It actually makes me...
21:31If you're unprepared, Australia can be a dangerous place to live when your home is in a rural area or
21:36on an urban fringe.
21:39Even if you're in the cooler climates of the south, you're still in harm's way.
21:44When I was working with Tasmania Fire Service, Tasmania's also a very sort of cold and dry place.
21:50Through summer, it doesn't get real hot, but the heat is quite intense down there.
21:55They do receive major bushfires.
22:00February 7, 2009 is etched in Australian history as the day an incredibly hot summer, a tender, dry landscape, and
22:08high winds combined to create the perfect conditions for the worst firestorm the country had ever seen.
22:17Known as Black Saturday, the fire brought the state of Victoria to its knees and needed 5,000 firefighters from
22:23all over Australia as well as New Zealand and the United States to bring several explosive fire fronts under control.
22:32During the Black Saturday fires in Melbourne, Tasmanian fires have deployed a team to Melbourne, Victoria 24 hours after Black
22:42Saturday to assist with the fires, which they ended up burning for approximately one month after Black Saturday.
22:51Over 1.1 million acres were burnt, more than 2,000 houses destroyed, leaving over 7,500 people homeless.
23:00An untold number of native animals and livestock perished, over 400 people sustained injuries, and most tragically, 173 people were
23:10killed when they chose to stay and protect their homes, or left it too late to evacuate.
23:18This catastrophic event has since weighed heavily on anyone in Australia living with the very real threat of bushfire.
23:26If you've grown up here all your life and you've always dealt with fires, you kind of know, at the
23:31end of the day, you're on your own, but there are a lot of people who go, well, there'll be
23:35a person in a white truck, there'll be a firefighter there, and the reality is that they won't be there.
23:40Fire has always been a part of the life cycle here, the aftermath ushering in a regeneration of the vegetation,
23:47a fresh start for this ancient land.
23:50Without regular burn-offs though, a build-up of fuel loads over successive dry seasons means devastating, intense fires are
23:58inevitable, ready to decimate everything in their path.
24:01It's up to residents to be responsible for their own bushfire action plan.
24:06We have a significant number of bushfires each year in Queensland, a large preparation program that's in place that will
24:14essentially educate people as to whether they stay and fight fire if they're fully prepared, or whether they leave early
24:20and get out of the area entirely.
24:23The main thing we educate people on now is to act early, so make a decision one way or the
24:29other.
24:29Have a plan, be prepared, and be decisive.
24:34For many Australians, this could be the difference between living or dying in the line of fire.
24:43Taking responsibility to avoid a disaster may be seen as a luxury for those living in our next location.
24:50The only way to avoid their impending doom is to leave.
25:00Every day in Los Angeles, people driving on the 1-4 freeway probably don't notice the soil patterns in the
25:06rock walls just above the traffic.
25:08These patterns have been caused by a major shifting of the earth, caused by earthquakes.
25:13This is no big surprise, as Los Angeles is on the famous San Andreas fault line.
25:25Living with the promise of a major earthquake is part of life in Southern California.
25:30This heavily populated part of the world is waiting for the next big one, and it will come one day.
25:35We only have to look back in history to see what could happen.
25:41In 1906, a major earthquake in San Francisco killed over 3,000 people and destroyed over 80% of the
25:48city.
25:52Since then, there have been many predictions of the next big one, with devastating results.
25:59In 1989, a major earthquake struck again with loss of life.
26:04Then, in 1994, a quake hit Northridge in Los Angeles.
26:08Tiffany Bosch, a resident of Los Angeles, was there.
26:11It was the earthquake, the Northridge earthquake, and it was pretty scary.
26:17It was about 6 o'clock or 5 o'clock in the morning in Northridge.
26:20All of a sudden, the apartment was shaking.
26:25In an earthquake, it is advisable to stand in an open doorway, even when the building shakes violently and the
26:31noise becomes unbearable.
26:33For Tiffany Bosch, this is training she learned in kindergarten.
26:38After it stopped shaking, we went outside.
26:41Everybody was leaving the apartment building, leaving the hallways and going downstairs.
26:46You couldn't use the elevators, you'd have to go down the stairs.
26:49And there was a neighbor that she had a heart attack in front of us.
26:54But it was so violent and so crazy.
26:57And then once it kind of quieted it down, I'd say probably three hours later, a couple of the guys
27:03went up to see if she was okay.
27:05And she ended up having a heart attack, but she died.
27:12The San Andreas Fault is where two of the Earth's tectonic plates come together.
27:17The North American Plate and the Pacific Plate.
27:20The fault is thought to have formed over 30 million years ago.
27:24All up, some 300 faults run beneath the surface of California.
27:27At over 800 miles long, the San Andreas Fault is massive.
27:32And living above it is definitely a dangerous place to be.
27:36But that does not stop millions of people living in Southern California, even when they experience small tremors with regularity.
27:45I work on the 35th floor in a semi-high-rise building in Burbank, California.
27:50So the building starts to sway.
27:53Apparently these buildings are on rollers so that they can absorb the tremor, if you will.
27:59In Los Angeles, they keep talking about, and they've talked about it for many years, that San Andreas is going
28:03to give way and that there's going to be this big earthquake.
28:05It's going to fall into the ocean.
28:07I mean, I don't think it's something that you can really predict.
28:09It's going to happen. It's going to happen.
28:11I've been living here for about 20 years now, and they've been saying it's going to happen.
28:15It hasn't happened. So I don't think we can live in fear waiting for the big one to come.
28:19If it happens, it happens.
28:22The small town of Parkfield, around three hours northeast of Los Angeles, is considered the earthquake capital of the world.
28:30There might be a good reason why the population is only 18.
28:34An earthquake occurs in Parkfield roughly every decade, and tremors are common.
28:39The bridge into the town is above the exact location where the two plates meet, and the twists and turns
28:45in the bridge are evidence that the plates are seldom still.
28:49Living here is one thing. Staying for a holiday is another thing altogether.
28:53So it is only an optimist who decides to run a bed and breakfast so close to the fault itself.
28:59The big one is coming. There is no question about that. But when is the real dilemma?
29:05So to most residents of California, life goes on.
29:09Yeah, I often think about it here in Los Angeles because it's so large. There's so many different suburbs here.
29:17We've got a lot of high-rise. We have a lot of old buildings. There's a lot of overpasses, a
29:21lot of large freeways. Back in, I think it was 94, overpasses collapsed on people.
29:26A lot of apartment buildings that were really old just kind of pancaked down and got crushed and squished.
29:34But a couple times a year, we'll get, you know, quakes. And that's just part of living in Los Angeles.
29:44The U.S. Geological Survey puts the odds of a magnitude 7 earthquake occurring within the next 30 years at
29:5260%.
29:52That may seem like a long time coming, but to the Earth itself, it is just a tick of the
29:58clock.
30:05Like so many places on our planet, disaster can strike without warning.
30:10But every so often, the warning signs give residents the heads up for survival.
30:17What would you do if one of the most intense cyclones ever recorded was bearing down on you?
30:25For most of us, the natural instinct would be to run.
30:28But spare a thought for the people of the small South Pacific island nation of Tikopea.
30:34At only 5 square kilometers, that's around 2 square miles, there aren't too many options.
30:39Early on the morning of 28th December 2002, Zoe, a Category 5 cyclone, directed the full force of its fury
30:48on this tiny island over the next 12 hours.
30:51Very frightening.
30:53It's a bad experience.
30:55The villages dotting the coastline didn't stand a chance and were torn apart by savage winds of 285 kilometers an
31:04hour.
31:04Only interrupted by gusts of up to 350.
31:08The beaches were smashed by massive waves.
31:11And most critically, the walls of an inland lagoon were breached, contaminating the island's only supply of fresh water with
31:18seawater.
31:19Almost all the houses, especially the eastern part of the island, has been washed away by big waves.
31:26Hardly any house left.
31:27Almost all the crops have been destroyed.
31:31Despite the ferocious onslaught, not one life was lost.
31:35This tiny island took care of its own, sheltering every single islander out of harm's way in its caves.
31:42It's a miracle. There is no casualties. There is no death.
31:48While the people of Tikopea were able to survive, living in one of the smallest and most isolated island communities
31:55on the planet means they are truly vulnerable when Mother Nature is at her most savage and brutal.
32:04From one storm to another, but the storms in our next region had many fooled for years in an abundance
32:11of conspiracy theories.
32:14There is a good reason the Bermuda Triangle has an ominous reputation.
32:19Over the last few centuries, it was thought that dozens of ships and later planes were disappearing under mysterious circumstances.
32:27People went as far as to speculate alien interference, but there is actually quite a natural explanation.
32:35The North Atlantic Ocean is a hot spot for hurricanes, many of which impact Bermuda.
32:42The intense warm waters of the Gulf Stream influences the formation and strengthening of many hurricanes.
32:49From May to November, everyone must prepare to batten down the hatches, with the likelihood of a truly devastating storm
32:57to hit every six to seven years.
33:00The island's weaknesses mean every caution must be taken during the tropical cyclone season.
33:06No part of Bermuda is more than one and a half miles from the sea, with large bridges connecting the
33:12main islands to one another.
33:13The locals are so used to these monster storm strikes that by law, all buildings must be made out of
33:20Bermuda limestone or concrete blocks.
33:23But there is only so much you can do to contend with Mother Nature.
33:27History tells us a change in direction or sudden low pressure disturbance can spring a surprise attack from seemingly nowhere.
33:35But rest easy. You don't have to worry about your vacation, with some hotels offering a hurricane guarantee.
33:42If you can't get there because gale force winds or horrifying seas have gotten your way, you won't be left
33:48out of pocket.
33:50Moving through the rankings from subtropical Bermuda at number 54 to a hot tempered number 30, where living alongside a
33:59volcanic threat has also proven to be prosperous.
34:04Towering above the city of Catania is Sicily's mountain of fire.
34:08The highest active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna threats to one day engulf the island with its bottomless well of
34:16blistering lava.
34:18Sicily's east coast has regularly been one of the most geologically active in Europe, dominated by the hulking figure of
34:25Mount Etna.
34:26The mountain was considered the home of the fire god Vulcan and has been documented since 1500 BC, longer than
34:34any other volcano on the planet.
34:36Rising to nearly 11,000 feet, the volcano is famous for a variety of violent explosions, rivers of lava and
34:44deadly pyroclastic flows.
34:47If you're a local, however, Etna may seem more of a blessing than a curse.
34:54The rich volcanic soil allows for farms and orchards to thrive.
34:59Several densely populated settlements, most notable Catania, surround the lower slopes, benefiting from the fertile land.
35:07There aren't many places in the world where you can live in both admiration and fear.
35:11The Sicilian's love for their mountain far outshines the risk.
35:16The climate's warm, the land is generous, and the food is excellent.
35:21However, if the lava-covered houses can testify to anything, it is that Mount Etna has a history of destroying
35:27those in its shadow.
35:29In 1669, lava flows from one of Etna's more volatile eruptions destroyed several villages and threatened the city of Catania
35:38when lava breached the city wall.
35:40When you live under the threat of volcanic eruptions, disasters are to be expected.
35:46Italian authorities have long attempted to divert lava flows with explosives, concrete dams, and ditches to some avail.
35:54Being one of the most active volcanoes on Earth has enticed many adventurers to climb the fiery slopes, wishing to
36:01experience the danger for themselves.
36:03It seems all too easy to find yourself a bit too close for comfort before the need to run for
36:10cover.
36:11Mount Etna continues to be a source for danger and awe.
36:15It might be alluring to the wild adventures, but take heed, Mount Etna is an arsenal of nature's fury.
36:26Staying in Italy, but moving up the coast, lays another sleeping giant just waiting for its moment to repeat history.
36:38Would you choose to live in the shadow of a volcano?
36:42On Italy's west coast, millions of people have decided to do exactly that.
36:47In fact, the port of Naples is Italy's third largest city and less than 10 kilometers from the eastern fringe
36:54of the metropolis.
36:56Mount Vesuvius looms large and is etched deep into the Neapolitan psyche.
37:01Every day, it's there, so we always, like, you know, looking at the Resuvian in a gorgeous way.
37:08We refer to he as a kind of a giant.
37:12A sleeping giant who has already proven his destructive potential when he's awake.
37:17So some people, they would say, it's a dragon, because the fire.
37:23And while flames are a dragon's weapon of choice, a volcano has so much more in its armory.
37:30August 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius erupted with a ferocity that cost thousands of lives.
37:37The initial explosion threw ash and pumice stones over 20 kilometers skyward, and these missiles rained down on the town
37:46of Pompeii.
37:47Later, both Pompeii and Herculaneum to the west were hit by extremely hot cascades of gas and volcanic rock that
37:56surged down the sides of Mount Vesuvius like a hurricane.
38:00An unstoppable force traveling at around 160 kilometers an hour.
38:05It's estimated that these pyroclastic surges were up to 300 degrees Celsius.
38:10Both towns were then buried under meters of ash and mud.
38:14Their excavated remains an incredible reminder of the frightening devastation waiting to be unleashed once more by Mount Vesuvius.
38:23I think there is a fear, but the Neapolitan people, they're trying to avoid thinking about that every day.
38:31It's not a question of if, but when.
38:33Every day you get the geologists, you get the volcanologists, you get all the experts.
38:40The Neapolitan people, they're very attached to the land.
38:43They're really having, like, you know, this kind of relationship with Vesuvius in a nice way rather than in a
38:51bad way.
38:55It has erupted since 79 AD. In fact, it's done so over 30 times.
39:01But Mount Vesuvius has remained a picture of serenity since the last eruption in March 1944.
39:0926 people died in the 1944 events, but the projections for the next eruption point to a catastrophe of epic
39:16proportions.
39:17Naples is probably the most densely populated volcanic region on the planet, so the body count will be enormous, even
39:24with a 72-hour evacuation plan in place.
39:28The time is not enough to move all those people that they're already living in a city that's chaotic and
39:36traffic every day, every moment.
39:39So I'm not sure how they can move all those people away.
39:42The countdown is on, yet for the millions who live here, their connection with their home is unbreakable.
39:49Even if there is so much evidence of a truly horrific fate that could be theirs by choosing to live
39:55next to this ticking time bomb.
39:57There is always this uncertainty about the future, and so they bring with them every day.
40:04But then instead of getting those feelings, suffocate them or destroying them or stress them, they're trying to live their
40:13life.
40:17From the power of Mount Vesuvius to a small island on the other side of the globe that has become
40:23known as the Pompeii of the Caribbean.
40:27It's one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the world.
40:31So concerning is its power, it's on 24-7 watch.
40:36It has already proven the might of its force, claiming a piece of history where time stood still, and does
40:43so till this day.
40:47The aftermath told a devastating story, often referred to as a modern-day Pompeii.
40:53Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat, lays victim to the might of the Soufriere Hills volcano.
41:00Once thought to be dormant, this volcano unleashed its power and smothered the capital in hot ash and mud.
41:07It quickly became clear a clean-up operation was out of the question.
41:12The rugged volcanic landscape of Montserrat is roughly 16 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide, half of which is now
41:21an exclusion zone.
41:22The eruptions began in July 1995, and by August, residents were being evacuated as volcanic ash rained upon the capital.
41:32A few months later, the locals were given the all-clear to return.
41:35But just two years on, Soufriere Hills showed no mercy.
41:41More than 10,000 residents were evacuated.
41:44Their homes were buried, the airport destroyed, and the docks demolished.
41:49What was left is now embedded in solid rock.
41:53Around 80% of Plymouth was buried, but beyond the capital, both agricultural land and small villages were also destroyed.
42:01The economy of Montserrat was crippled.
42:04Tourism once thrived in this region for a lush, carefree island getaway.
42:09But this recently entombed city of Plymouth is starting to attract visitors once more, this time to catch a glimpse
42:18of a city that was.
42:20There are so many disasters that caused towns to be abandoned en masse.
42:26Leaving the sleeping capital of Montserrat, we head up into the United States to a town that had to say
42:32goodbye to those who called it home.
42:37This is what happens if the lifeblood of a community turns out to be toxic.
42:42When the very thing that sustains a town eventually destroys it.
42:46Welcome to Pitcher, once a picture-perfect example of small-town America near Oklahoma's border with Kansas.
42:54Now almost completely abandoned, empty, and bulldozed.
43:00From 1913 to 1967, Pitcher was a leading producer of zinc and lead, and at one stage, 14,000 miners
43:08were extracting ore out of the many mines that surrounded the town.
43:13However, the mine tailings known as chat were dumped in piles that grew and grew, a magnet for the local
43:20children.
43:22Laden with toxic heavy metals, playing on the chat piles of Pitcher was a health hazard.
43:29Contamination of the local waterways was inevitable, and eventually the lead poisoning levels recorded in children triggered government moves to
43:37fund a buyout of the town so that residents could relocate to safety.
43:42In 2008, a tornado destroyed 150 homes, speeding up the exodus of locals.
43:49But despite the municipality of Pitcher being officially dissolved in 2013, a few dedicated individuals remain.
43:57If the cost of living here is dying early, sticking around is simply not an option.
44:05We are ranking the 72 most dangerous places to live, and selecting three of the worst for our final countdown.
44:12This program has claimed the spots of numbers 5, 6, and 7.
44:17At 7 is the sleeping giant that is Mount Vesuvius. To the world, it's overdue to erupt. For the locals,
44:24it's about getting on with life and not worrying about what might be.
44:28When the giant wakes, however, millions will be running for their lives.
44:33The tornado alley is not named lightly. The United States averages over 1,000 tornadoes a year, and the Midwest
44:41area is the hardest hit, lasting anywhere from several seconds to over an hour.
44:47Tornadoes are capable of mass destruction.
44:50And finally, the high risk every summer of bushfires in Australia.
44:55Volatile and unpredictable, but the certainty is they will happen, and often.
45:01Our world can be very dangerous.
45:04Seldom can we predict what will happen next.
45:07The End
45:08The End
45:09The End
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