Catastrophe!

In the summer of 1971, the Middle East was hit with a devastating drought. In an effort to provide its people with food, the Iraqi government purchased 95,000 tonnes of grain from North America. Despite the good intentions, this grain would injure over 6,000 people and kill 459 officially, while more realistic estimates put the casualties at ten times those numbers.

The grain that proved so deadly to Iraqi families wasn't meant to be eaten at all. A special coating applied to the grain was intended to protect it from rot while in transit. The coating was safe for grain that would be planted, but toxic if used to make bread, or feed animals. Governments around the world were aware of this risk, but in 1971 few had actually passed legislation to prevent the kind of poisoning that scarred Iraq forever.

William Mulholland was an almost legendary figure in American engineering, with a career spanning 40-plus years. He was responsible for bringing water to the thirsty young metropolis of Los Angeles.

When he built his second concrete gravity dam, however, he overstepped his own knowledge. The collapse of the St. Francis Dam killed at least 411 people, with many still unidentified to this day. When the dam burst, nearly 12.5 billion gallons of water raced from the mountains above present-day Santa Clarita over 50 miles to the Pacific Ocean, destroying everything - and everyone - in the way.

Catastrophes are part of life, but many of the worst are the direct result of human error. Whether it's poor planning, design flaws, or simply greed or hubris, we are often our own worst enemy.

Join volcanologist Jess Phoenix as she explores the stories of natural disaster, failure, and calamity, and what we learn from our fascination with digging through the rubble.