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‘Nova’ explores 1780 hurricane disaster
PBS’ “Nova” is going catastrophic with a series of films: “Killer Volcanoes” (Wednesday), “Killer Hurricanes” (Nov. 1) and “Killer Floods” (Nov. 8). Get ready for science with scares.
The second program, which has special meaning for Florida, had to undergo revisions. The film adds this year’s Harvey, Irma and Maria to a list that includes Mitch, Camille, Katrina, Sandy and Typhoon Haiyan.
The real focus, however, is the Great Hurricane of 1780. It remains the deadliest hurricane in Atlantic history with 22,000 deaths — most of them slaves — in the Caribbean.
Hurricanes on average kill about 10,000 people each year, and the deadliest to hit the United States was one in 1900 that struck Galveston, Texas, and killed up to 12,000.
The program draws on documents from the year 1780 in Barbados, where the hurricane first struck. The island was then under British rule, and the commander in chief wrote, “I do not believe that 10 houses are saved on the whole island.”
Historical meteorologist Wayne Neely says the whole region was devastated and cites deaths on Martinique, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenada.
“Killer Hurricanes” suggests that the 1780 superstorm formed in a similar way to Irma. Then the program, drawing on research, goes into an explanation of how events unfolded as the hurricane ravaged the Caribbean for nine days in 1780.
By exploring the past with today’s tools, scientists gain insight. “The more we understand about them, the better we can predict them,” meteorologist Marshall Shepherd says.
“Killer Volcanoes” uses a similar approach in studying a mystery eruption in 1257. The hour unfolds like an episode of “CSI” with a search for forensic information: Where did it happen? Why did it have global impact? Could another eruption of this magnitude occur? The hour will fascinate anyone who has been following reports on the supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park.
The hurricane film goes back thousands of years, studies Caribbean trends, examines fossil corals and issues a warning: We need to be prepared for more killer storms. It’s timely and chilling.