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This documentary produced by
The Learning Channel provides a vivid look at a wide range of dangerous weather, using film shot during notable meteorological events to illustrate the awesome punch packed by nature. Accompany hurricane hunters who fly into the eyes of massive storms to collect weather data as they track Hurricane Opal, which battered the Gulf Coast of Florida in 1995. A trip to the beach with rescue crews after the storm passed dramatically demonstrates the massive destruction inflicted by wind and waves. A particularly vicious tornado raked Texas in 1997, striking with such a vengeance that it pulled six inches of topsoil off the ground. The storm is documented by interviews with survivors as well as dramatic footage of the twister and its aftermath. Other profound weather events are also featured, including wildfires in the western United States and super-cell thunderstorms that can unleash tremendous destructive power. Among the lesser-known, freakish weather events shown in this documentary is a hailstorm in Calgary, Canada, that first caused winter storm conditions in the summer before becoming a massive flooding problem when the hail melted. This is a very well-photographed and intelligently assembled look at some of the most spectacular and deadly weather to strike the planet.
--Robert J. McNamara
