It Could Happen Tomorrow
It Could Happen Tomorrow was a television series that premiered on January 15, 2006 on The Weather Channel. It explored the possibilities of various weather and other natural phenomena severely damaging or destroying America's cities. This included: a Category 3 hurricane hitting New York City, an F4 tornado destroying Washington, D.C., dormant volcano Mount Rainier re-activating and destroying towns in the surrounding valleys, a tsunami flooding the Pacific Northwest coast, an intraplate earthquake impacting Memphis, Tennessee, wildfires spreading into the heart of San Diego, a huge earthquake leveling San Francisco, a flash flood in Boulder, Colorado, and a flood in Sacramento. Newer episodes that were aired included an earthquake in Las Vegas, an F5 tornado ripping its way through Chicago and Dallas, and more.
| It Could Happen Tomorrow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Created by | Jim Cantore |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 33 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Bruce David Klein |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Atlas Media Corp. |
| Release | |
| Original network | The Weather Channel |
| Picture format | 480i (SD) |
| Original release | January 15, 2006 – July 29, 2007 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
So far, the only scenario that has come true is the Colorado floods, which started on September 9, 2013. Because Hurricane Sandy was only a category 1 and not a 3 when New York was hit, the first episode technically hasn't come true ― yet, although Sandy was the closest call since the series was ended.
Plot
Each episode was broken into several segments: "It Did Happen", a segment that talked about similar disasters happening in other parts of America (or even earlier in the target city featured); "When It Happens/How It Would Happen", which talked about how the disaster would unfold; and a third segment about how to prepare for the disaster, and interviews with residents in the threatened areas about what they think of the disaster threat. Sometimes there is a segment called "Before It Happens", which shows what is being done to prepare for the disaster.
Production
"It Could Happen Tomorrow" was produced by Atlas Media Corporation. The program's executive producer was Bruce David Klein and supervising producer was Cheryl Houser.
Episode list
Season 1: 2006
| # | Title | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "New York City Hurricane Express" | January 15, 2006 | |
| A category 3 hurricane is headed for New York City, what catastrophic damage would this cause? Examine the very real possibilities of this devastating act of nature. | |||
| 2 | "Dallas Tornado Danger" | January 23, 2006 | |
| A massive supercell has given birth to an F5 tornado and it is headed straight for Dallas, Texas. Get a look at what if anything will be left standing once mother nature unleashes this beast. | |||
| 3 | "Living in Mount Rainier's Shadow" | January 30, 2006 | |
| Beautiful Mount Rainier in Washington is the home of a potential disaster. Located inside Mount Rainier National Park, the devastation from an eruption could be catastrophic. Based on the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. | |||
| 4 | "West Coast Tsunami" | February 27, 2006 | |
| A massive earthquake hits off the coast of Seattle. The Tsunami that would follow would cause catastrophic damage to the entire west coast of the United States and beyond. Based on the 1700 Cascadia earthquake | |||
| 5 | "New Madrid Fault" | March 13, 2006 | |
| The New Madrid Fault has been in hibernation since the early 1800s. If a massive earthquake was to start, the effects would be deadly. Near by Memphis, Tennessee would suffer a terrible loss of life and property. | |||
| 6 | "Sacramento Floods" | March 20, 2006 | |
| The streets of Sacramento, California are filling with water. With no where for the water to go, what damage will be left behind? Based on the Great Flood of 1862. | |||
| 7 | "California Wildfires" | March 27, 2006 | |
| A small fire starts in California, before personnel know it is raging and consuming thousands of acres. Where could it go if firefighters are unable to contain it? Based on Cedar Fire in San Diego | |||
| 8 | "San Francisco 8.0 Earthquake" | April 10, 2006 | |
| San Francisco, California, the earth starts to move under everyone’s feet. A massive earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter Scale has just occurred. What devastating effects will this have on the city and the powerful aftershocks that follow? Based on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake | |||
| 9 | "Colorado Flash Floods" | April 17, 2006 | |
| Heavy rain fall in Boulder, Colorado has resulted in flash flooding. Massive amounts of damage and loss of property and life will result when and if mother nature unleashes water on the city. | |||
| 10 | "Katrina" | June 5, 2006 | |
| Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in August 2005. The catastrophic damage is outlined as well as what is being done to prevent another disaster. † | |||
†Hour long special, see Katrina episode section below
Season 2: 2007
| Number | Event | Location | Based On | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | F5 Tornado | Chicago | Plainfield Tornado | January 7, 2007 |
| 12 | Category 5 Hurricane | Houston, Texas | Hurricane Carla | January 7, 2007 |
| 13 | F5 Tornado | St. Louis, Missouri | 1974 Super Outbreak | January 21, 2007 |
| 14 | Tsunami | Hawaii | April Fool's Day Tsunami | January 21, 2007 |
| 15 | Earthquake | Seattle, Washington | Loma Prieta earthquake | January 28, 2007 |
| 16 | Wildfire | Austin, Texas | Oakland Hills firestorm | January 28, 2007 |
| 17 | Earthquake | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1971 San Fernando earthquake | February 11, 2007 |
| 18 | F4 Tornado | Washington, D.C. | La Plata, Maryland Tornado of 2002 | March 11, 2007 |
| 19 | Category 5 Hurricane | Miami | Hurricane Andrew | June 3, 2007 |
| 20 | Category 4 Hurricane | Savannah, Georgia | Hurricane Hugo | June 10, 2007 |
| 21 | Earthquake | Charleston, South Carolina | Charleston Earthquake of 1886 | July 1, 2007 |
| 22 | Wildfire | Los Angeles | 1993 Malibu wildfire | July 8, 2007 |
| 23 | Category 4 Hurricane | Tampa Bay Area | Hurricane Charley | July 29, 2007 |
Katrina episode
Coincidentally, the original Category 5 hurricane episode was to involve New Orleans. It was conceived and scripted months before Hurricane Katrina ever struck New Orleans. After Katrina, the debut episode was changed to instead show such a storm striking New York City (reducing the storm to a Category 3, as it is believed that is the strongest such storm that would strike the city; such a storm in 1938 missed New York City by just 75 miles, and historical records also show that a similar storm directly hit the city in 1821). On June 4, 2006 The Weather Channel aired this episode, titled "Katrina: The Lost Episode." Unlike most episodes, this episode was one hour in length and combined clips of the "lost" episode with a Storm Stories-style retelling of Katrina's effects.
Schedule
It Could Happen Tomorrow continued running on TWC until April 2010, when The Weather Channel began aired many other new weather shows; it was replaced by Storm Stories and Full Force Nature. On March 12, 2011, It Could Happen Tomorrow was brought back to the schedule. As of July 2013, two episodes aired Fridays at 4-5 pm, but as of October 2013, it is no longer on TWC's schedule.
See also
- Perfect Disaster - a similar television show
- Mega Disasters - another worst-case scenario series on History Channel