A PLEASURE TO SEE.
TONIGHT, AS PART OF OUR
COVERAGE, WE ARE TAKING A LOOK
BACK AT THOSE MAJOR STORMS AND
THE DEVASTATION THEY LEFT
BEHIND.
HERE IS THAT STORY FOR US.
Reporter: IT WAS LATE AUGUST,
THREE MONTHS INTO HURRICANE
SEASON WHEN HARVEY APPEARED IN
THE GULF OF MEXICO.
EVERYONE PREPARED FOR A RAIN
EVENT.
HARVEY EXPLODING INTO A
CATEGORY 4 STORM, MAKING
LANDFALL IN ROCKPORT, TEXAS,
TAKING ROOF RIGHT OFF.
THREE HOURS OF HELL, AN HOUR-
LONG LULL, AND THEN THREE HOURS
OF HELL.
Reporter: TURNED OUT, THE
HELL WAS ACTUALLY JUST
STARTING.
LET ME TELL YOU, IT IS
DROPPING LOTS OF WATER.
THE STREETS ARE TREACHEROUS.
Reporter: THE RAIN WAS
UNRELENTING.
OVER FOUR DAYS, HOUSTON SAW
MORE THAN 40 INJURIES.
COMPUTER MODELS ARE CALLING
FOR 30, 40 AND 50 INCHES, YOU
ALMOST HAVE TO SAY, COULD THIS
BE POSSIBLE?
I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU PREPARE
FOR THAT MUCH RAIN.
Reporter: THE FOURTH LARGEST
CITY IN AMERICA DISAPPEARED
UNDERWATER.
TRUCKS WERE SWEPT AWAY, AND THE
LIVES OF MANY CHANGED INSTANTLY.
17,000 PEOPLE WOULD BE RESCUED.
MANY BY EVERYDAY PEOPLE IN
BOATS, CANOES, WHATEVER THEY
COULD FIND.
AND WHEN THE WATER IS RECEDED,
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HOMEOWNERS
WERE LEFT WITH JUST THE CLOTHES
ON THEIR BACK.
HARVEY MADE THE RECORD BOOKS AS
THE COSTLIEST TROPICAL CYCLONE
EVER.
NEARLY $200 BILLION IN DAMAGE.
UNFORTUNATELY, MOTHER NATURE
WAS JUST GETTING STARTED.
JUST A WEEK LATER, HURRICANE
IRMA FORMED, QUICKLY REACHING
CATEGORY 5 STATUS.
WINDS PUSHING 185 MILES PER
HOUR, THAT WOULD RAVAGE THE
CARIBBEAN.
SEATTLE BARBUDA DECLARED
UNINHABITABLE.
BY SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY
MORNING, WE COULD SEE IRMA
SOMEWHERE IN THE VICINITY OF
SOUTH FLORIDA, THE BAHAMAS,
CUBA, FLORIDA STRAITS.
Reporter: THE MENACING
FORECAST THREATENED THE ENTIRE
STATE.
A STATE OF EMERGENCY WAS
DECLARED IN A WEEK AHEAD OF
LANDFALL.
WE WERE JUST EVACUATING
SOUTH, NORTH, OR THE CENTRAL
COAST, WE WERE EVACUATING
COASTAL ZONES ALL THE WAY UP
THE PENINSULA.
FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS, IF YOU
WERE TO CREATE THE WORST-CASE
SCENARIO, THAT'S WHAT WE ARE
LOOKING AT.
Reporter: 11 HOSPITALS WERE
EVACUATED INCLUDING ALL IN THE
FLORIDA KEYS.
WE HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING
THIS OMINOUS SINCE ANDREW.
Reporter: ON SEPTEMBER 7,
THE HURRICANE WATCH WAS ISSUED
THAT WRAPPED AROUND THE ENTIRE
SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE STATE.
AN ESTIMATED 7000 PEOPLE TRY TO
GET OUT OF IRMA'S PAST.
-- IRMA'S PATH.
IT WAS HORRENDOUS.
BUMPER TO BUMPER.
Reporter: INTERSTATES BECAME
PARKING LOTS.
IT DID NOT MATTER IF IT WAS 2
P.M.
OR 2 A.M.
GAS STATIONS RAN DRY.
FOR THOSE WHO DID FIND GAS,
THEY WAITED HOURS TO FILL UP.
WHEN SOMEONE CUT THE LINE,
TEMPERS FLARED.
ONE MAN EVEN PULLING A GUN.
SHELTERS FILLED TO CAPACITY,
AND FLORIDA KEYS RESIDENTS
KNOWN FOR NOT EVACUATING DURING
STORMS, PANICS.
I'M NERVOUS.
A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT I WANTED
TO RESCUED -- THAT I WANTED TO
RESCUE CHOSE TO STAY BEHIND.
Reporter: IRMA MADE LANDFALL
AS A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE NEAR
BIG PINE KEY ON SEPTEMBER 10.
THE WINDS TOSSED TRAILERS, AND
TORE OFF ROOFS, BUT, IT WAS THE
STORM SURGE THAT REALLY WRECKED
THE KEYS, BOATS WERE THROWN
AROUND LIKE TOYS, HOMES AND
ROADWAYS, PUMMELED.
I LIVE ON THE OCEAN.
YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE CHANCES.
Reporter: AS THE STORM
PUSHED NORTH, THERE WAS WAIST
DEEP STORM SURGE.
TREES TOPPLED IN JUST ABOUT
EVERY SOUTH FLORIDA COMMUNITY.
IRMA MADE A SECOND LANDFALL IN
NAPLES AND MOVED UP THE STATE.
THE HURRICANE LEADING MUCH OF
THE STATE IN THE DARK.
MORE THAN 4 MILLION FPL
CUSTOMERS WITHOUT POWER.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN
OUR COMPANY'S HISTORY THAT
WE'VE HAD ALL 35 COUNTIES,
27,000 SQUARE MILES HIT.
Reporter: AN ARMY LINEMAN
ENTERED FLORIDA TO RESTORE
POWER.
FOR SOME, POWER CAME BACK IN
JUST DAYS.
OTHERS TOOK SEVERAL WEEKS.
CORAL GABLES SUED FPL OVER IT.
WE HAVE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE,
OUR 60-YEAR-OLD TRANSFORMERS TO
BE UPDATED.
WE WANT FOR THE POLES NOT TO
BREAK BECAUSE OF OLD AGE.
Reporter: AND THERE WERE
THOSE WHERE THE POWER CAME TOO
LATE.
THREE INDIVIDUALS WERE FOUND
DECEASED ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF
THE FACILITY.
Reporter: AFTER SPENDING
THREE DAYS IN THE SWELTERING
HEAT, SOMEONE DISCOVERED THE
HORROR OCCURRING IN THE
HOLLYWOOD HILLS NURSING HOME.
WE DON'T KNOW IF HE'S ONE OF
THE ONES THAT PASSED AWAY OR IF
HE IS OKAY.
Reporter: 150 REST TO SENIOR
HOSPITALS.
MANY WITH TEMPERATURES OVER 102.
HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT POINTED
FINGERS AT THE STATE.
I HOPE THE TRUTH COMES OUT.
IT'S JUST SENSELESS.
RIGHT NOW WE DON'T KNOW
WHERE TO GO.
Reporter: FLORIDA KEYS
RESIDENTS WERE FRUSTRATED AS
WELL AS THEY CAMPED IN CARS,
UNABLE TO RETURN HOME AS CREWS
CLEARED ROADWAYS.
WHEN THEY FINALLY RETURNED
HOME, MANY FOUND THERE WASN'T
MUCH TO SALVAGE.
I'VE BEEN THROUGH WILMA,
KATRINA, AND ALL OF THOSE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE
THIS IN MY LIFE.
Reporter: THE WEEK OF IRMA,
I LOST NINE POUNDS OR MORE,
BECAUSE I WAS JUST SICK TO MY
STOMACH THINKING ABOUT WHAT
POTENTIALLY COULD HAPPEN.
OF COURSE I DID NOT SHARE THAT
WITH ANYBODY.
BUT, STUDYING HURRICANES AND
SEEING THE TYPE OF DAMAGE THEY
COULD DO, LOOKING AT THE
CONSISTENCY OF THE MODELS AND
THE POTENTIAL, I JUST THOUGHT,
THIS IS GOING TO BE SOMETHING
THAT COULD CHANGE PEOPLE'S
LIVES.
THANKFULLY THIS WASN'T THE ONE.
Reporter: THERE IS NO BETTER
EXAMPLE OF THE ONE THAN
HURRICANE MARIA.
THE STORM WAS SORT OF A
CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY 5 STATUS
WHEN IT HIT PUERTO RICO OF THE
20th.
THE ISLAND'S POWER AND WATER
INFRASTRUCTURE WIPED OUT.
DEVASTATION QUICKLY TURNED
POLITICAL AS HE RELIEF EFFORTS
FACE ELLIPTICAL NIGHTMARE.
I HATE TO TELL YOU, PUERTO
RICO, YOU HAVE THROWN OUR
BUDGET OUT OF WHACK.
LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT --