Emergencies and Natural Disasters

When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23

When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23 The control room switch read "closed" while the valve was open, and no alarm existed to warn the 1,500 people on

The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor

The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor An iron anchor was pulled from Georgian Bay eighty years after the paddle steamer Waubuno vanished with twen

Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita

Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita A drifting ship found with lights on, clocks stopped at 10:25, a doctor's bag intact and four blood-stained

The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany

The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany Fear that the sea swallowed certainty: a decorated sloop, a careful commander, and a signed letter dated September 28, 1

The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid?

The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid? Fear that a small action could spiral into mass death: an 11,885-ton liner sank in 16 minutes after a two-kilogram ex

The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana

The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana Everyone thought they were finally going home: a photo taken April 26, 1865 shows a steamboat built for 376 men

When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished

When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished Heat, sealed vaults, and a material that carries its own oxygen: a July heat wave and forty-eight brick-and-ste

The Day the Sky Over West Virginia Exploded Thirteen Times

The Day the Sky Over West Virginia Exploded Thirteen Times The sky above West Virginia burned for four days with thirteen separate fireballs after a train derailed on Fe

The Day an American Warship Vanished: 86 Men, No Trace

The Day an American Warship Vanished: 86 Men, No Trace The Atlantic swallowed an eighteen-gun sloop and 86 souls in December 1781 with no wreck, no bodies, and no distre

A lifeboat launched in a full storm - yet only one man made it inside

A lifeboat launched in a full storm - yet only one man made it inside Fear of a sudden, inexplicable disaster: a nearly century-old tug sank intact in 38 feet of water o

The men who built that unfinished shelter, and kicked out those fires, were still alive

The men who built that unfinished shelter, and kicked out those fires, were still alive A half-built lean-to, warm food left on cold cookers, and cigarette cartons scatt

Seconds to Silence: How the Sewol's Course Changed Forever

Seconds to Silence: How the Sewol's Course Changed Forever Fear that routine choices can become fatal: the MV Sewol made a five-degree course change at 08:46 on April 16

Burned to Bone, Shoes Intact: The Sarah Dixon Midnight Blast

Burned to Bone, Shoes Intact: The Sarah Dixon Midnight Blast The Columbia River returned a body five days after a boiler tore apart the sternwheeler Sarah Dixon on the n

The Day a Missing Line Turned a Neighborhood into an Inferno

The Day a Missing Line Turned a Neighborhood into an Inferno Fear and disbelief: a routine pipe upgrade sent 150 times the normal gas pressure into a residential network

Locked Exit, 25 Dead: The Plant That Became a Coffin

Locked Exit, 25 Dead: The Plant That Became a Coffin A locked exit and a padlock on a door that read "Fire Exit - Do Not Block" turned a routine shift into a mass fatali

Seventy-four people. Six urns. Both ships had pilots who knew the waterway

Seventy-four people. Six urns. Both ships had pilots who knew the waterway A pre-dawn collision in dense fog left seventy-four people dead and only six urns lowered into

When a Giant Vanished: The Edmund Fitzgerald's Silent Night

When a Giant Vanished: The Edmund Fitzgerald's Silent Night A freighter radioed "We are holding our own" at 7:10 PM on November 10, 1975-and ten minutes later the Edmund

When a Navy Bomb Killed a Greenpeace Photographer in Auckland Harbor

When a Navy Bomb Killed a Greenpeace Photographer in Auckland Harbor Fear that a friendly state's agents would attack a protest ship in a peaceful port: at 23:23 on July

The 402 Drums: How a Ferry Became a Toxic Tomb

The 402 Drums: How a Ferry Became a Toxic Tomb The thought of 402 drums of a banned pesticide sitting inside a capsized passenger ferry creates a chilling barrier betwee

When an Earl Lied and 230 Men Vanished at Sea

When an Earl Lied and 230 Men Vanished at Sea A Royal Navy warship with an earl's coat of arms sank north of Cuba on 21 November 1693 with approximately 230 men aboard -