ALEX_DEAKIN BENJAMIN_LARABEE BRAD_WHITE CLARE_NASIR DR_HAL_NEEDHAM FEMALE_SPEAKER HANNAH_CONNAUGHTON HARRY_SHIMMIN JAMAL JAYNINA JIM_SCREECH JOSH_MCEWAN KARL_TIFFANY KEEGAN_ELLIOTT KIMBERLY_SHAW MALE_SPEAKER MICHAEL_BOBBITT NARRATOR OFFICE_WORKER REANN_McMAHON RESCUE_WORKER SACHA_AMUNDSEN SARAH_MIMNAGH SCIENTIST SERDAL_BINGOL TIA_ERINROZ WALLANGARRA NARRATOR The weather � JAMAL Argh! NARRATOR � the pulse of our planet � MALE SPEAKER Large tornado in progress. NARRATOR � capable of catastrophic destruction � MALE SPEAKER Severe thunderstorm warning. NARRATOR � leaving landscapes in total ruin. MALE SPEAKER Totally mash up. Everything flattened. NARRATOR As global temperatures rise � FEMALE SPEAKER NARRATOR � the weather is spiralling out of control. JOSH MCEWAN Oh shoot! NARRATOR With shocking, up-close footage � BENJAMIN LARABEE We had 24-foot dumpsters rolling by. BENJAMIN LARABEE Oh shoot! I�m losing it. My trailer�s going. NARRATOR � from the frontline of fear � SACHA AMUNDSEN This might be the last time I�m in my house. KEEGAN ELLIOTT Tornado! KIMBERLY SHAW I got sucked out feet first. Felt myself hit the ground. MICHAEL BOBBITT Our island is in trouble. NARRATOR � we meet the people who have stared death in the face � HARRY SHIMMIN Oh dear God. JAYNINA All I could hear was �run, run, run�. NARRATOR � and miraculously survived � MALE SPEAKER Look at that! NARRATOR � the World�s Deadliest Weather. NARRATOR Coming up � Turkey and Syria are slammed by powerful earthquakes that tumble tower blocks, trapping terrified townspeople in the rubble � SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR � as rescuers race against time and relentless aftershocks. NARRATOR A devastating deluge hits Stockport in the UK � HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Oh, my God! NARRATOR � leaving homes submerged, and turning roads into rivers, as residents scramble to safety. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I was thinking, �I�m trapped. How are we gonna get out?� TIA ERINROZ Oh my gosh, get me out of here! NARRATOR A vicious volcano in Vanuatu in the South Pacific � BRAD WHITE That is so violent, the most violent I�ve ever seen it. NARRATOR � showers visitors with molten rock from the lava lake at the crater�s core. BRAD WHITE I thought it was gonna melt through everything that I was wearing, through my skin, through my bone. NARRATOR And in Queensland, Australia, a ferocious lightning storm causes a wildfire that blazes out of control, triggering an emergency evacuation. REANN McMAHON The main road was already on fire. REANN McMAHON Can we drive through here? No! NARRATOR Located in the southernmost area of Turkey is the province of Hatay, on the Mediterranean coast. Two major fault lines meet in the area: the East Anatolian, and a series of faults known as the Dead Sea Transform. DR HAL NEEDHAM Faults are really the boundary lines between tectonic plates, and so in this case, it�s a strike slip � DR HAL NEEDHAM � fault, where you have two adjacent plates moving in opposite directions. Now, you might think that you could actually see these plates slowly moving over time, but you don�t really see that. In fact, even from a satellite view the plates� motion looks indetectable, but it�s building up tension and building up all that stress until there�s a sudden slip, and all of a sudden an earthquake happens, releasing all of that tension. NARRATOR February 6th 2023. Two major earthquakes strike ten different cities across southeast Turkey and Syria, demolishing 850,000 buildings and causing catastrophic carnage across an area the size of 14,000 soccer fields. Hatay is one of the areas worst affected. Thousands of people tragically lose their lives, and hundreds more are trapped in the rubble. NARRATOR Hatay City is home to police officer and father of two Serdal Bingol. SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR It�s the early hours of February 6th 2023, and Serdal is staying overnight with his friend�s grandmother to help with her care, alongside a night nurse, in an apartment block in central Hatay. NARRATOR At just after 4:00am, a major earthquake strikes the city � NARRATOR � measuring a massive 7.8 on the Richter scale � one of the most severe magnitudes possible. The ground shakes violently for a minute and a half, inflicting unsustainable damage to the building�s foundations. SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR As daylight breaks, an unimaginable scale of destruction is revealed. Hundreds of buildings in the city have collapsed, killing or trapping hundreds of thousands of people. NARRATOR Turkish authorities are overwhelmed and request urgent international aid. NARRATOR In the UK, Jim Screech and Sarah Mimnagh are part of the international search and rescue team known as UK ISAR. SARAH MIMNAGH UK ISAR is a combination of fourteen fire and rescue services from across the country with specialists in urban search and rescue. JIM SCREECH We have chainsaw operators, hot cutters, rope technicians, search experts, canine handlers. We have a medical team, a command-and-control element, logistics and a base of operations team. NARRATOR Over the next few hours Turkey experiences another earthquake, and hundreds of aftershocks. More and more buildings collapse, burying people even deeper in the rubble. DR HAL NEEDHAM In the Turkey earthquake we had over 30,000 aftershocks. So, many of these are really small and not well detectable, but the first big aftershock, after the first earthquake, was just nine hours later, with a 7.5 magnitude aftershock. That�s almost as big as the original earthquake, so these aftershocks can have tremendous impacts, because a lot of buildings have already been compromised. They have cracks in them, they�re very unstable, and even just a moderate amount of shaking from an aftershock can cause more buildings to collapse. SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR As Serdal and others wait for help, the UK ISAR team arrive in Turkey. But nothing could prepare them for what they�re about to walk into. JIM SCREECH It was complete devastation. It�s almost apocalyptic. The roads were all buckled. You know, there was no power. It was complete chaos. SARAH MIMNAGH I don�t think anyone can prepare themselves to witness a humanitarian and natural disaster. It�s something on another scale. We tried to access via coach, but there was buildings in the road. There was no real access points, so we did a lot of it by foot. There was an incredible amount of displaced people, and we had to find a way to classify whether somewhere needed a longer search or a shorter search. NARRATOR The team get to work digging through the rubble, assisted by trained search dogs. SARAH MIMNAGH Our search dogs are incredible. Within three hours the dog started barking. As soon as we started to investigate what was going, a member of the public went, �There�s someone in there. I can hear them.� SARAH MIMNAGH We managed to find a way to remove as much debris as possible, and it was 50 metres into this collapsed structure. I was the tiniest person, so right at the end of the tunnel, and managed to uncover what I thought was a deceased person, who then started talking to me. All I could see was the crown of a head. RESCUE WORKER Yeah, we�re turning around. SARAH MIMNAGH Our entire focus is on finding survivable voids, and that was a survivable void, and she�d manage to survive through this period of time, and this was day three. So she had been entombed for over 72 hours, face down in rubble. RESCUE WORKER I�ve got both her hands. SARAH MIMNAGH And it took about maybe an hour and a half, and we managed to bring her out. RESCUE WORKER Make a chain and just pass her down. SARAH MIMNAGH We realised that those survival voids had a lot of hope. That was massive for the team on the ground. NARRATOR Earthquakes often come with little to no warning, making them extremely dangerous and impossible to prepare for. NARRATOR October 2019, the Philippines. An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale strikes General Santos City, violently shaking this office block and terrifying the workers within. As the frantic employees try to make their escape, overhead lighting fixtures are flung about furiously, and desk drawers are forced open. OFFICE WORKER Do not panic! Relax! Do not panic! NARRATOR No one in this office was injured, but hundreds were hurt across the city. NARRATOR All too often, earthquakes can catch people off-guard. On New Year�s Day in 2024, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hits Ishikawa in Japan, suddenly shocking these shoppers as they make their way around the mall. The stock flies off the shelves, and the indoor sprinklers are activated, drenching everyone and everything inside. As families flee for safety, they�re left reeling by the earth-shaking event they�ve just experienced. NARRATOR The town of Stockport in Greater Manchester, in northwest England, was once famed for its hat-making industry. NARRATOR Now, many of the old mill buildings have been converted into modern apartments, like Meadow Mill, on the banks of the River Tame, home to media creator Hannah Connaughton. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I�ve lived in Meadow Mill for just over a year. It�s a really beautiful place to live, really nice location, and the community there is amazing. I live on the fourth floor with my boyfriend Jackson. It�s our first home together and we really enjoy living together so far. NARRATOR Living on the first floor of the same building is fellow resident Tia Erinroz. TIA ERINROZ It�s a lovely place to live, very spacious. We�ve got this lovely river down the back of us, which is really nice to walk your dog along, and just get a break from the city life. NARRATOR But on New Year�s Day in 2025, the river burst its banks, following a period of heavy rainfall. A deluge of water and sewage � HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Oh, my God! NARRATOR � floods the entire area. RESCUE WORKER Hello? NARRATOR � destroying apartments and trapping residents inside. TIA ERINROZ Oh my gosh, get me out of here! ALEX DEAKIN Flash floods can occur very rapidly. Alex Deakin Meteorologist, Met Office ALEX DEAKIN So it�s very easy to get caught out. One minute you look out the window, it�s just raining a bit hard, but if that rain intensifies and keeps going, even for just 30 minutes to an hour, if the conditions are right on the ground, that can turn into a river outside your window very quickly. And that can move cars, as well as be very dangerous for anyone out caught in that rainfall, washing people away very rapidly indeed, generating a lot of mud as well that gets caught up, blocking drains and exacerbating the flood. NARRATOR New Year�s Eve 2024. Both Hannah and Tia have decided to stay at home and celebrate at Meadow Mill. TIA ERINROZ We had everyone round. We had my girlfriend and her family round. So that was loads of fun. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON We opened a bottle of wine and just watched the fireworks out of my window. We noticed that it was raining very heavily, and there were some big puddles starting to form. It never once crossed my mind what we would wake up to the next day. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I woke up to the sound of car alarms, which I thought was a bit strange, so I decided to check my phone to see what was going on, and I saw a few texts from the group chat of the residents that I know. TIA ERINROZ Tons of messages from friends and family, that they said, �You need to check outside. Is everything okay?� HANNAH CONNAUGHTON So I jumped up out of bed. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON You can�t see a single thing. It�s pitch black. We have absolutely no power. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON And I look out of my window and saw six foot of dirty, murky river water. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Oh my God! HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I was in shock. I really didn�t know what to think. I was just baffled that my home was now in a lake. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON My car�s underwater. TIA ERINROZ That water was really close to our window, and seconds away from getting in. It was really deep. The van was floating. We just couldn�t believe it. We walked up and down the corridor, trying to see if we could find anyone to talk to. The building was really quiet and pitch black, because all the electric had gone. We walked to the stairs and noticed that there was a layer of water on the stairs coming up, and that�s when we realised that it wasn�t just the outside that was flooded. TIA ERINROZ It was just instant shock and panic. How are we gonna get out of here? No one can come up or down the stairs. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON The entire ground floor was pretty much submerged, and I look down below me, and there are firemen passing water up a string to someone on the first floor, so they obviously couldn�t gain entry to the building. So I was panicking, thinking, �I�m trapped. How are we gonna get out?� NARRATOR But more help is on the way. A specialist team are alerted at nearby Kinder Mountain Rescue. On of the team is swift water rescue technician Karl Tiffany. KARL TIFFANY More and more information was coming through. We actually realised how major this flooding event was. We were told that there was approximately 500 people in the Mill that would need evacuating. KARL TIFFANY The scene was quite shocking, partly because of the height of the water � pretty much shoulder height if you were to wade through it � and also the smell and the colour of the water. RESCUE WORKER Just watch your feet around this area. KARL TIFFANY It was dirty, industrial, there was quite a lot of sewage. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON There�s been an oil spill somewhere, I�m guessing one of the cars. KARL TIFFANY I was instantly thinking, �How on earth are we going to get these people out of the Mill safely?� NARRATOR Deep in the South Pacific Ocean likes the nation of Vanuatu, consisting of approximately 83 islands and several active volcanoes. NARRATOR One of them, known as Ambrym, is visited on December 2014 by a team of scientists and geologists, including photojournalist and volcano expert Brad White. BRAD WHITE I was part of an expedition that included a scientist who was looking at the microbiomes of what could live inside volcanoes, and where could early life have come from. So my role at that time was to look after the scientist, to get him inside the volcano and make sure that they were safe, and then to get them back out. BRAD WHITE Okay. NARRATOR It takes nearly two hours for Brad and the scientist to make the descent into the lowest rim of one of the volcano�s craters, known as Marum, where the molten rock is bubbling at over 1,200 degrees centigrade. NARRATOR It�s a journey Brad does often, but this time he spots something unusual � about the lava. BRAD WHITE That particular expedition, I noticed that it was so much more vigorous. The level of that lava was a lot higher. At times it was bursting out from the vent. BRAD WHITE That is so violent, the most violent I�ve ever seen it. BRAD WHITE It almost had more energy. NARRATOR Keen to capture the volcanic activity on camera, Brad sets up his equipment near the crater�s edge. BRAD WHITE I moved the camera, got it set up so that I could catch part of that crater. It was rumbling away, extremely loud, and even though my Spidey sense was telling me I should stay a bit further away from it, you just get drawn to it, closer and closer. It�s very, very hypnotising. BRAD WHITE It�s my fourteenth visit here, and it�s the most active I�ve ever seen it. I want to minimise my time down here, �cause quite frankly I�m myself. BRAD WHITE I was quite excited at the shots that I was getting. It just went up, and it went down. The energy just shot out and over me. BRAD WHITE And there was enough time to think, �This is gonna hurt.� What my fear was, in those milliseconds, was I was gonna have a large amount of 1,200-degree lava burn through me, and just melt through everything that I was wearing, through my skin, through my bone. I thought it was gonna be extremely painful, extremely damaging. BRAD WHITE BRAD WHITE I was only hit by a few small spatters that came down, and in that moment I was just waiting for that searing heat and that searing pain to kick in � which didn�t come. NARRATOR Miraculously, the majority of the lava flies straight over Brad�s head, missing him entirely, and saving him from serious injury. BRAD WHITE That was probably my closest call ever to being completely covered in lava bombs. There was a bit that touched me on my hand. BRAD WHITE You missed the, er, extremely violent splatter that went over my head. SCIENTIST Are you serious? BRAD WHITE I do count myself very, very lucky that I was in the right spot, and it shot over me. NARRATOR Brad�s lucky escape is enough to make him consider stopping his volcanic expeditions altogether. BRAD WHITE I think it was my loved ones that really convinced me to sort of give it up. I do have a family, people that love me dearly, and, you know, I could have put them in a position of something quite unimaginable. I got very, very close to Mother Nature at that time, and it actually brought me closer to respecting her a lot more. NARRATOR In Turkey, two massive earthquakes have hit ten major cities, demolishing 850,000 buildings and trapping hundreds of thousands of people in the rubble. NARRATOR One of them is father of two, Serdal Bingol, buried in the rubble of an apartment block, alongside a woman who was caring for his friend�s grandmother. SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR The British search and rescue team, UK ISAR, have flown in to help find survivors. JIM SCREECH We got intelligence that someone was trapped within a building. JIM SCREECH We�re going to assess a site with the Turkish search and rescue team. JIM SCREECH There had been a pancake collapse, so the layers had come down and then stopped at a certain point. We were getting aftershocks constantly while we were there. So before we can commit people into that structure, we need to be as safe as we can. SERDAL BINGOL RESCUE WORKER We�ve got an entry point into this collapsed building. It�s in through this building. JIM SCREECH We narrowed it down to one area which was giving us the most clear communication. We then focussed our efforts and started trying to dig in and get to the casualty. RESCUE WORKER The engineer has checked this building out. It�s structurally sound. A young lady is trapped on the second floor. You can see the extent of the collapse at the back. This is looking next door. It�s quite open at the back, and narrows like a wedge all the way to the front. JIM SCREECH There was a lot of thick concrete that we had to break through initially. RESCUE WORKER This is our entry point. Bore in. JIM SCREECH The translator will come up, reassure the casualty that we�re making progress. RESCUE WORKER We�re reaching into the building. JIM SCREECH We got into the compartment, where we could start digging with small hand tools. SERDAL BINGOL JIM SCREECH We ended up having to take the rubble away and throw it down a lift shaft, you know, and then that�s how things went for the next ten hours. SARAH MIMNAGH They were twelve hours into the rescue, and then we came on as the next rotation and worked through the night. We were breaching on heavy breaking tools, and then the tunnel got too small, so we were then using hand tools and hands to try and grab as much out as we could. NARRATOR The team have been digging for fourteen long hours, when they manage to uncover the woman buried alongside Serdal. SARAH MIMNAGH She was heavily dehydrated, hyperthermic because of the temperature drop overnight. RESCUE WORKER It�s okay. SARAH MIMNAGH But she was actually able to extricate herself, so she actually started climbing down the tunnel. RESCUE WORKER One, two, three. JIM SCREECH It then also came to light that there was a second casualty alive in there. SARAH MIMNAGH That was Serdal. SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR Serdal may have been found, but it quickly becomes apparent that getting him out won�t be easy. SARAH MIMNAGH When we got into Serdal, the actual structure around it was quite unsafe. RESCUE WORKER Hello? SERDAL BINGOL SARAH MIMNAGH So once we continued to progress we realised that actually his legs were trapped. NARRATOR October 2023. An epic lightning strike causes a deadly wildfire to tear across parts of Queensland, Australia � REANN McMAHON Here�s the fire here. It�s already at the Oval. But can we drive through here? NARRATOR � forcing residents into an emergency evacuation. REANN McMAHON No! Okay, we�re gonna have to go back. WALLANGARRA QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA NARRATOR Wallangarra, on the border of Queensland and New South Wales, is a rural community that�s home to ReAnn McMahon and her husband Paul. REANN McMAHON Wallangarra is a very small community. There�s about 400 people. Everyone�s close-knit, and it�s a lovely place to live. We have sheep and goats and cows and vegetables and things, so it�s a totally different world. REANN McMAHON Our animals mean the world to us. REANN McMAHON Come on, baby, don�t be scared. Hey! REANN McMAHON Yeah, they�ve all got names and little personalities. It�s like people that own dogs and cats, you know. They just love them. NARRATOR But on October 31st, a local bushfire threatened to change everything. REANN McMAHON My day started as a normal day. I was out feeding the animals. I first saw smoke a few days before it came to Wallangarra. REANN McMAHON It doesn�t matter what direction I look in, um � it�s just smoke and just fires. REANN McMAHON The fire started because of electrical storms. There was lots of lightning strikes, lots of little fires. I think everyone in the town was on edge, because nobody really knew what was going on, and we were relying on fire and rescue to be informed on what we had to do. REANN McMAHON The cattle field has some big fires going on. I can see one, two helicopters right now just going past. The national park behind us is now on fire. Um � and it goes right around. I don�t know if you can see it. There�s a helicopter just there. REANN McMAHON We didn�t think that the fire was gonna come to the town, and then all of a sudden it did, and it happened in a matter of hours. Clare Nasir Meteorologist, Met Office CLARE NASIR Wildfires thrive in conditions where it�s very hot, the air is dry and there�s vegetation around to just be lit, whether that�s human cause or by lightning. Lightning strikes the highest point on the land, and if it�s an electrical storm and the land below is very dry and it�s full of vegetation which is dry, that causes wildfires. REANN McMAHON So yeah, we�re hoping that we should be alright. I�ve got the app. I�m keeping an eye on it. But the funny thing is the bloody wind kept changing. REANN McMAHON And then we got an evacuation alert. There was no time for any of the residents to do much. Before we left our property we could see the flames. We could see the colour of the sky was like an orange-brown. It had a real eerie feel about it. And we didn�t know what to do with the animals, but we grabbed our baby goats, �cause they were only little then. REANN McMAHON Come on, in you get. Are you coming? Good girl. REANN McMAHON I thought that we would lose our house, �cause it was headed straight for our farm, and we�d left behind our sheep and our cows. REANN McMAHON Come on, Danny, in you get. Good boy. Good boy. We�ve got baby Dora. Okay. Everybody hang on. Let�s go. REANN McMAHON And we left, and we headed into town, as we were told to do. REANN McMAHON It�s quarter past two and we�re evacuating Wallangarra. The fire has already come into the township, um, and it�s at the Oval, across the railway line and grabbed our goats. REANN McMAHON We found out that the main road that we normally use to leave Wallangarra was already on fire. Visibility was next to nothing, and of course we had our little goats in the car, and they were bellowing and crying. REANN McMAHON It�s okay. We�ll get you out. It�s okay. REANN McMAHON The moment we decided to turn around was when we couldn�t see. All that was in front of us was a big wall of red, and we just weren�t gonna drive through there. REANN McMAHON So here�s the fire here. It�s already at the Oval. But can we drive through here? No! REANN McMAHON So we turned around and we came back to go through the back way. REANN McMAHON Alright, we�ve had to come back into Wallangarra. We�re gonna go and park down near the post office. There seems to be a few people and police there, so we�re just gonna go and get some advice. REANN McMAHON I think that�s when I started getting a bit emotional, because I knew that the fire was headed towards our home and our animals, and we were just all hoping that our homes would be okay and the friends of our homes would be okay. NARRATOR Eventually, Queensland Fire Department and local volunteers in the rural fire service manage to get the blaze under control. REANN McMAHON The fire finally passed through Wallangarra. The fire brigade had taken control of it, so they were winning. And then we were told that it was safe for us to go home. REANN McMAHON You can see all the red in the trees and on the ground where the planes have been dropping all the fire retardant. NARRATOR The fires destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of land, and Wallangarra was forever changed by the incident. REANN McMAHON Driving back and seeing so much damage, it was really sad, and driving around, seeing people that we know that had lost their homes. Yeah, it was quite traumatic. REANN McMAHON Geez, it�s come close, look at that, right up to that lady�s fence line. This is still burning. REANN McMAHON There were houses that were totally, totally lost. REANN McMAHON Looks like they�ve got it out. It�s gone. Cleaned out, they�re going. REANN McMAHON There was quite a lot of damage done. By the time we got back to our little farm, we could see that actually nothing had been touched, so we were so lucky. I think the feeling is really grateful to the fire and rescue and all the volunteers that saved the town. NARRATOR Stockport, in the UK. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Happy New Year, guys. NARRATOR Floodwater is still rising after a month�s worth of rain fell overnight on New Year�s Eve, causing the River Tame to burst its banks and engulf the nearby apartment complex of Meadow Mill. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Oh, my God! NARRATOR Tia Erinroz is trapped on the first floor, where the water level is just inches away. TIA ERINROZ That water was seconds away from getting in. The panic set in, that when are we gonna get out of here? NARRATOR Hannah Connaughton is in her apartment on the fourth floor with her boyfriend and dogs. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I realised, we�ve got no water, we�ve got no power. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON So we can see for now, but when it goes dark � HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Our apartment has no gas. We had no heating and it was the start of January, and it was very, very cold, so we were worried how long we were gonna be stuck in those conditions. NARRATOR Emergency crews are attempting to evacuate all 500 of the building�s residents. One of the crew members is swift water rescue specialist Karl Tiffany, from Kinder Mountain Rescue. KARL TIFFANY Evacuating 500 people is no mean feat. Our first job was to search the Meadow Mill car park for any missing or trapped people. RESCUE WORKER Hello? KARL TIFFANY We had to wade through the water using wading poles to check for any hazards that might be under the water. RESCUE WORKER Just watch that bubbling drain as you go through. KARL TIFFANY Manhole covers that have lifted, industrial equipment that might be live with electricity � RESCUE WORKER Just watch your feet around this area. RESCUE WORKER Okay. KARL TIFFANY It was a pretty dangerous time. NARRATOR After several hours, the water starts to recede. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I�m guessing they are gonna start getting people out now, �cause they�ve got all the right people and the water has gone down to somewhat of a safe level. TIA ERINROZ We looked out the window and there was mountain rescue crew coming in. KARL TIFFANY The floodwater receded enough so that we could get in through the front door. Conditions inside were pretty bleak. There was no electricity. It was dark and also pretty cold. RESCUE WORKER You can see here where the water level has been. KARL TIFFANY We could see the original height of the floodwater. It was around seven foot. RESCUE WORKER Are we gonna man this with people spaced out and let them walk from person to person? RESCUE WORKER I think that�s the best idea. NARRATOR In addition to the lack of power, the residents and emergency crews face another challenge. KARL TIFFANY It was going to start getting dark, and in the corridors there was no lighting, so it was already dark because there�s no windows. NARRATOR With just two hours until sunset, the pressure is on for the emergency crews to evacuate all 500 residents trapped in the building � before nightfall. TIA ERINROZ So we were the first people to be evacuated. RESCUE WORKER I�ve got four residents with me now and a dog. A very good dog at that. TIA ERINROZ We took a step into the water. It was absolutely freezing, and so murky. TIA ERINROZ Oh my gosh, get me out of here! TIA ERINROZ The smell was vile. I started gagging. TIA ERINROZ Ugh! This is unbelievable. RESCUE WORKER Go straight up. RESCUE WORKER Go right to the right-hand side. Stay left. TIA ERINROZ I honestly felt like I was in a horror movie. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON It was disgusting. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Oh, my God! HANNAH CONNAUGHTON We were told that it was sewage water. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON Oh God, it�s freezing! KARL TIFFANY The fire crews had set up pumps to start pumping the water out through the lower stairwell. FEMALE SPEAKER Thank you. FEMALE SPEAKER Thank you so much. Thank you. TIA ERINROZ When we got out of the building there was mountain rescue crew there with a little blow-up bath of soapy water and a hose to disinfect us. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I was so impressed with how the emergency services dealt with it. They got us out so safely and so quickly. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON We�re all out, safe and sound. You alright, Olly? TIA ERINROZ The relief when we all got outside was immense. You can�t describe a feeling like it. TIA ERINROZ Thank you, guys. Oh, bloody hell. What a day. NARRATOR Hundreds of people were displaced after the New Year�s floods at Meadow Mill and forced to find temporary accommodation. It was twenty days before the clean-up operation was complete and residents could return to the building. NARRATOR Hannah and Tia were able to stay with family members, but the experience has left a lasting impression. TIA ERINROZ Just didn�t expect 2025 to start like that. It was the most terrifying thing that I�d ever been through, and I hope it�s onwards and upwards from now. HANNAH CONNAUGHTON I always assumed that England was safe from natural disaster, so it was a harsh reminder that we�re just tiny little people on a really big, powerful earth, and we must respect it. NARRATOR It�s now the fifth day that Serdal has been trapped beneath several tons of rubble in Turkey, after a series of earthquakes collapsed the building he was sleeping in. RESCUE WORKER It�s quite open at the back, and narrows like a wedge all the way to the front. NARRATOR The UK International Search and Rescue team, known as UK ISAR, are struggling to remove Serdal, because his legs are stuck beneath a heavy iron bar. RESCUE WORKER Hello? SERDAL BINGOL SARAH MIMNAGH We realised that actually his legs were trapped, so our focus is what we can do to mitigate any further risk to them. SERDAL BINGOL You okay? RESCUE WORKER We�re okay, yeah, we�re okay. SARAH MIMNAGH So we then spent a lot of time in a very, very small space, trying to remove that, dig underneath him, find a way to release his legs. SERDAL BINGOL SARAH MIMNAGH And once we got to a point where we could release him, the next part of it is bringing in the whole team to find a way to remove him. RESCUE WORKER Just wait one sec, we�ll put a stretcher underneath him. SERDAL BINGOL RESCUE WORKER One, two, three, push! JIM SCREECH There�s only room for one person at the front, one at the back, so one pulling, one pushing. SARAH MIMNAGH We were able to find a way to get him out. RESCUE WORKER See if you can go and set up so we can do a quick examination. Get a pelvic splint ready. SARAH MIMNAGH We actually got to have a conversation with him. He showed us his family. You don�t get to see that. You don�t see the other side of the people that you rescue normally, so, yeah, very lucky to see that actually all that work that the team did, those kids got Dad back. So, yeah, that was brilliant. SERDAL BINGOL NARRATOR Over 15 million people were impacted by the earthquakes in Turkey � the strongest in the area for 80 years. 130,000 people were injured, and over 55,000 lives were tragically lost, making the earthquakes the deadliest in a century. JIM SCREECH The power of Mother Nature � what can we do against that? Absolutely nothing. So, you know, all we can do is just keep training, keep preparing. SARAH MIMNAGH It�s an experience that I don�t think anyone should ever have to experience. I�m proud to be part of UK ISAR and proud to have worked with that team. SERDAL BINGOL DR HAL NEEDHAM People can underestimate the power of Mother Nature. Earthquakes can be incredibly deadly. Mother Nature knows no boundaries and knows no mercy. NARRATOR The weather � MALE SPEAKER Tornado! Stay low! NARRATOR � the pulse of the earth, and an uncontrollable force. MICHAEL BOBBITT Our island is in trouble. NARRATOR As global temperatures rise � SACHA AMUNDSEN This might be the last time I�m in my house. NARRATOR � the weather is getting more extreme � MALE SPEAKER It�s an unstoppable force. NARRATOR � and even more catastrophic � BRAD WHITE That�s the most active I�ve ever seen it. NARRATOR � with devastating consequence � MALE SPEAKER We�d better go. It�s coming. NARRATOR � proving once again that we are no match for the world�s deadliest weather. HARRY SHIMMIN Oh dear God.