Disaster Area

On December 26th, 2004, the world experienced one of the deadliest natural disasters we will ever see in our lifetimes. In part one, we will look at the earthquake which was just the start of a horrific tragedy.

Videos:

• Compilation in chronological order of videos of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
• The man who Filmed the Tsunami - Shocking footage of the Indonesian disaster
• Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Productions: Sri Lanka Train Disaster 18 Years Later
• The Wave That Shook the World
• Tsunami: Caught on Camera

Articles and books:

• One train, more than 1,700 dead
• 10 years after tsunami, Utah man recovers, composes music linked to experiences
• The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami: The Story of the Deadliest Natural Disaster of the 21st Century, by Charles River Editors
• Wave of Destruction: The Stories of Four Families and History's Deadliest Tsunami, by Erich Krauss
• Scientists: Sumatra quake longest ever recorded
• Power of tsunami earthquake heavily underestimated
• Girl, 10, used geography lesson to save lives
• The Devastating 2004 Tsunami: Timeline
• 10 Years Since Dec 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
• 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: 17 years on, a look back at one of the deadliest natural disasters in history
• Blast from the Past
• The Volcanic Eruption of Krakatoa

On a hot summer day in 1918, the night shift workers at the National Shell Filling Factory No. 6 in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, England, arrived as per usual. One hundred and thirty-four of them would be dead within an hour and a half.

Videos:

• Nottingham Forgotten Heroes #9 The Chilwell Munitions Workers
• The History Chap: The Chilwell Munitions Factory Explosion

Articles and books:

• A History of the First World War in 100 Moments: When corpses fell from the Nottinghamshire sky
• Historic England Research Records: National Filling Factory Number 6 Chilwell
• Remembering the Chilwell Depot Explosion of 1918 and the Canary Girls, by Marian Dean
• Chilwell explosion: Events mark centenary of factory blast
• University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections: Chilwell Shell Filling Factory Explosion
• Footage of Chilwell shell factory found in shed seen for the first time in 100 years
• Revenge of the Curds: Remembering the Great Nottingham Cheese Riot of 1766
• The History Press: Disaster at the Chilwell shell-filling factory
• Nottingham County Council: Chilwell National Shell Filling Factory Explosion

Videos:

• I Survived ...: Virginia Tech and the I35W collapse
• 20/20 In An Instant: Rush Hour Disaster
• I-35W Bridge Collapse Structure and Components and Initial Failure
• 10 years later: Survivors reflect on the 35W bridge collapse

Articles and books:

• NTSB: Design errors factor in 2007 bridge collapse
• Questions Rise About Previous Knowledge Of Bridge
• Hopes Dim in Minneapolis for Survivors
• Park board approves site for I-35W bridge memorial
• Hundreds turn out to dedication of 35W bridge memorial
• NTSB report on the I35W bridge collapse

• Video of Club Q shooting suspect previous threat
• WATCH: Club Q shooting survivor on how LGBTQ people are 'continually being dehumanized'
• Watch: Suspect accused of killing five people in the Club Q mass shooting appears in court
• Club Q Mass Shooting Survivor: It Was Home And To Not Have That Anymore Hurts

• Timeline: Club Q emergency response
• What We Know About the Colorado Springs Shooting
• Gay club shooting suspect evaded Colorado's red flag gun law
• Colorado Springs Survivor Recounts Terror of LGBTQ Club Shooting: 'All I Could Think of Was Pulse'
• Army Veteran Went Into 'Combat Mode' to Disarm the Club Q Gunman
• Colorado police prioritize proper pronouns, names of shooting victims
• Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters sign vandalized days after Club Q mass shooting
• LGBTQ club shooting suspect's troubled past was obscured by a name change, records show
• Anderson Lee Aldrich: A history of family travail, personal violence
• Police found rainbow-colored shooting target, map of Club Q in suspect's apartment
• Preached at, spat on, threatened, Colorado Springs' transgender community grapples with the Club Q attack
• Trump's Ex-Lawyer Says Colorado Victims Reaping Consequences of 'Eternal Damnation'
• El Paso Sheriff's Office Statement Regarding Previous Arrest and Charging of Alleged Club Q Shooter Anderson Aldrich

While we are still close to the actual disaster for a regular episode on the subject, Jennifer takes an hour and a half to discuss the implosion of the OceanGate submersible on its dive down to the wreck of the Titanic.

In a small Pennsylvania town, the play set to be performed on a cold Monday night in January drew hundreds of people to the Rhoads Opera House. One hundred and seventy of them would never make it home alive.

Videos:

• The Rhoads Opera House Fire: Legacy Of A Tragedy

Articles and books:

• Midwinter Mourning and A Town in Tragedy, by Mary Jane Schneider
• Trapped in the Third Act: The Rhoads Opera House Fire, Boyertown 1908

When the sky darkened and the winds picked up at the Indiana State Fair on August 13th, 2011, those fans waiting for country band Sugarland to perform were worried the concert might be delayed. But there was something far more deadly for those in the audience to worry about.

Videos:

• State Fair Tragedy: 10 Years Later
• Indianapolis stage collapse compiled raw footage w/ State Fire radio audio
• Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse - Weather Moments Before
• Sugarland Opens Up About Tragedy
• A STAGE FELL ON ME | Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse
• How the 2011 Indiana State Fair stage collapse lead to major changes in safety at large events

Articles and books:

• 'Forever and yesterday': Remembering the Indiana State Fair stage collapse 10 years later
• LOOKING BACK ON SUGARLAND'S TRAGIC STAGE COLLAPSE 10 YEARS LATER
• Video: Flaming Lips' Stage Collapses in Oklahoma
• $50 million settlement reached in Indiana State Fair stage collapse
• About us: Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center
• $39M settlement reached in Indiana State Fair stage collapse case
• Indiana State Fair Commission Investigative Report by Thornton Thomasetti
• Indiana stage collapse: was it preventable?
• Retro Indy: The deadly 1963 Coliseum explosion on Halloween night
• Indianapolis Monthly: The Collapse
• Indiana State Fair 2011 Setlists
• 2011: ISP releases timeline of Indiana State Fair stage collapse
• Fatality inquiry into 2009 Big Valley Jamboree death says standards needed for stages
• Storm at Belgium's Pukkelpop music festival kills five after stage collapses

Jennifer recounts her visit to the 9/11 Museum in New York City.

Every day we head off to work or school or wherever else we might be headed with the hope we will arrive there safely. But while we might feel like we can depend on ourselves to keep safe, sometimes our lives are in the hands of pilots, drivers, or engineers who are under extraordinary pressures we have no clue about until it's too late.

Videos:

• Seconds From Disaster: Runaway Train (S 6, Ep 5)
• Trapped Underground for Hours After Horrific Train Crash (S 1 Ep 3)
• Fukuchiyama Derailment Mystery (Toshiden podcast, Tara A. Devlin)

Articles and books:

• Families, Survivors Mark 14th Anniversary of Fatal JR West Derailment
• 54 Killed in Japan Train Crash
• Japan Train Derailment
• Two Survivors Pulled From Train Crash in Japan; Death Toll at 76
• Second Train Derailment in Japan
• At Least 73 Dead, 456 Hurt in Japan Train Derailment
• Toll Rises in Japan Train Wreck
• Japan Train Crash Toll Climbs
• Japan's Train Derailment Reaches 95, May Rise Further
• Rail Company in Japan Investigated
• Japan Crash Inquiry Focuses on Driver
• Death Crash Train Driver "Lived in Fear of Being Late"
• Final Survivor Pulled From Train Wreck in Japan
• In Japan Crash, Time Obsession May Be Culprit
• Japanese Rethink Faith in Rail System After Crash
• Rail Offices Raided in Crash Probe
• Union Chief Blames 'Bullying' Rail Firm for Japanese Train Crash
• Victims' Phones Ring Out Across Crash Site
• Hope Sinks for Japan Crash Survivors
• Toll in Japan Train Crash Tops 100
• Rescuers Find Body of Japan Train Crash Driver
• Workers Clear Railway Crash Scene as Toll Rises to 107
• Japanese Train Crash Linked to Employee Stress
• Japanese Train Smash Aftermath a Circus
• Japan Train Driver Gets Reprimand
• JR West Defends Retraining Regimen
• Railway Accident Investigation Report
• Our Goal- A Corporate Culture that Places Top Priority on Safety
• JR West May Face Crash Negligence Trial
• If Human Errors are Assumed as Crimes in a Safety Culture: A Lifeworld Analysis of a Rail Crash
• JR West Punished Staff With Toilet Duty, Cutting Weeds
• Invisible Mutuality between Structural Inertia and Learning Disability - A Case Study of the West Japan Railway Accident 4.25
• Street view of crash site memorial (Inori no Mori)
• Dawn of Japanese Railways (Mar. 1994)
• Japan Ex-Rail Chiefs Cleared of Fatal 2005 Crash
• Japan Marks 10th Anniversary of Fatal Train Crash
• Top Court Upholds Acquittal of Ex-JR West Heads Over 2005 Derailment
• Japan's Train Woes Due to Structural Issues in Ageing Equipment, Lack of Young Engineers
• 2005 Train Crash Site Turned Into Place to Remember Victim
• Informational pamphlet on Inori no Mori (June 2019)
• Train Crash Survivor Aims for Bull's Eye at Tokyo Paralympics
• JR West Plans to Preserve Train Cars in Deadly Derailment in '05
• The Derailment Accident on the Fukuchiyama Line
• Japan's 2005 Deadly Derailment Bereaved Families Struggle to Pass Down Memory: Survey
• Victims of 2005 Derailment in Amagasaki Remembered
• Asymmetry of Authority or Information Underlying Insufficient Communication Associated with a Risk of Crashes or Incidents in Passenger Railway Transportation
• PARALYMPICS: Archery Athlete Never Lost Her Focus After 2005 Train Tragedy
• Train Driver Sues JR West for ¥56 Deducted Pay Over One Minute Delay
• Memorial Held for 107 Victims of 2005 Derailment for First Time in Three Years
• Rescue Operations at the Time of Train Derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo (Powerpoint, Amagasaki City Fire Dept.)
• 147 Year History of Japanese Railways (2020)
• Construction of Local Railways (July 1995)
• Trains in Japan (2012)
• About us page of JR West
• Difference between different types of trains in Japanese train system
• Crush Injuries and the Crush Syndrome
• Crush Syndrome
• Victim Participation in the Criminal Process in Japan (Matsui Shigenori, 2020)
• Jan. 17, 1995 CE: Kobe Earthquake (6 Apr. 2020)

It was just a little house fire. It should have gone out in no time. In a safer building, it would have. But within an hour and a half of the first call to 999 that night, Grenfell Tower was fully ablaze.

Videos:

• Grenfell: The Fire of London
• Grenfell: The Worst Tower Block Fire in London History
• Grenfell Tower tragedy in 3D
• 12 Firefighters have Terminal Cancer Since 2017 Rescue
• First Reports of Grenfell Tower fire
• New video timeline shows how the Grenfell Tower fire unfolded
• What Happened With The Cladding At Grenfell Tower?

Articles and books:

• Show Me The Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen, by Peter Apps
• Grenfell Tower inferno a 'disaster waiting to happen' as concerns are raised for safety of other buildings
• Concerns raised about Grenfell Tower 'for years'
• Fire alarm at Grenfell Tower was never meant for residents
• Grenfell: Cladding firm suggested use of cheaper panels
• Grenfell Tower refurbishment used cheaper cladding and tenants accused builders of shoddy workmanship
• Residents warned of 'catastrophic' Grenfell Tower block fire three years ago - but pleas 'fell on deaf ears'
• Faulty tumble dryer 'caused Shepherd's Bush tower block fire'
• Twenty-seven minutes and Grenfell Tower fire had taken hold: so why weren't residents told to get out?
• Grenfell Tower graphic: what we know about how the fire spread
• Questions Mount After Fire at Grenfell Tower in London Kills at Least 12
• IFSEC Global: Grenfell Tower Fire: latest Inquiry updates and full timeline
• Behailu Kedebe's statement to the inquiry
• Kingspan: Fire performance of phenolic insulation
• Dozen Grenfell firefighters diagnosed with terminal cancer
• Fire crews extinguish blaze at Shepherd's Bush tower block