Disaster Tales

By April 15th, 1912 the Gilded Age was coming to an end and the White Star Line's greatest ship, the Titanic, sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic.  Of the approximately 2,224 passengers and crew, only 700 survived.  Discussion of precognition events, Marconi wireless operators and the fateful decisions of two nearby ships.  Bibliography: Psychic Forewarning of Tragedy, George Behe One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to save the RMS Titanic, William Hazelgrove Titanic 1912: The Original News Reporting of the Sinking of the Titanic, Ken Rossignol The Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation, Tom Kuntz, editor Consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/DisasterTales Contact us at Kate@disastertales.com or Barb@disastertales.com    

We know there were many serious disasters in 2021, but unfortunately for us, there were many, serious personal disasters that knocked us right off track of putting out this podcast out on a regular basis. We'll be talking about some of these unfortunate events in this episode. Hopefully, this trend is over and we can get back to the business at hand.  Thank you for hanging in there with us.  We promise to do better.  Kate and Barb

After a long and spotty, crappy year, Disaster Tales is BACK!  Kate interviews 911 Specialist Lynsie Wilson about how the system works and what it's like to be a 911 Dispatcher.  History too. Welcome back and thanks for hanging with us.  We love you guys.   

With Kate off on a disaster, Barb Lonsky interviews Michelle Howe, an ex-Florida resident who lived through the 2004 hurricane season. Michelle shares her first hand experience of that nightmare season. 

We all know that things are getting stranger.  With wildfires, floods, tornados, volcanoes, landslides and hurricanes, it seems that there's a new disaster nearly every day.   Guess what?  In the past month there were MORE than a new disaster every a day.  Go around the world with us as we look at what's been happening in August 2021. Don't forget to comment and drop us a line at kate@disastertales.com or barb@disastertales.com 

Between the years 1839 to 1914, over 53,000 coal miners were killed in the United States.  This is the story of two of those terrible disasters.  Bonus!  Barbara Lonsky sings "Ballad of the Darr Mine" (Originally written and recorded by Jason Hegedus) 

1936 held not only dust storms and drought but floods and avalanches and plagues of locusts!  Is there more? Yew betcha! Read Kate's book Domestic Terror.  You can find it in the fiction section of Amazon Kindle and other platforms. 

Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) was the first violent step in the Nazi extermination of the Jews. With origins in American eugenics programs, the systematic destruction of over six million Jews and other marginalized populations, the November Pogram signaled  nearly a decade of terror in Europe and around the world. 

Explore a dark day in history with us as we look at March 11 disasters. 

Ever wonder if a disaster happened on your birthday?  We'll find out the history of Co Host Barb's birthday: Storms, plots, plane crashes and more!

Covid 19 is not the first pandemic to attack humanity, and won't be the last.   Changes occur in health, society, research and finances.  Kate Fairweather and Co Host Barb Lonsky discuss the side effects and after effects of pandemics on humanity. 

Since it's December, the season of miracles, Kate and Barb discuss miraculous disaster survivals.  Babies and tornados, church members and explosions, airplane crashes and surviving a tsunami are all covered.  Plus there's discussion about surviving childhood in the 1960s.  Merry Christmas

Diane is the CEO of Disasterscope, Inc. and author of Resilient Americans: We May Not Have It All Together But Together We Have It All.  Diane talks about her work as a disaster professional and how she would like to build more compassion into the current disaster response and system. 

Liz Root and I talk to Boxabl CEO Paolo Tirimani about the post disaster housing options he's developed.  

In 1903 the waters around Ithaca, New York became contaminated with typhus.  Typhoid struck both the town and the then young Cornell University.  

With all the COVID 19 stuff going on, many Americans may not be aware that part of our country, Puerto Rico has been suffering devastating earthquakes since the beginning of the year.  Hundreds are unhoused, sleeping in their cars and worried for the next one to hit.  This is after two incredibly destructive hurricanes in 2017 that killed an estimated 1400 to 2900 American citizens, the earthquake swarm of 2020 has caused massive damage to homes, businesses and utilities.  Americans in Puerto Rico could use our help with infrastructure upgrades and repairs, relaxing of restrictive import laws and perhaps even becoming the 51st state. They pay taxes just like the rest of us, but don't have representation in congress. And how fair is that?  

Interview with Disaster Avoidance Professional and author Gleb Tspursky.  We discuss planning a disaster recovery for your business and how to apply those principles to the current pandemic. This is a MUST HEAR!

 After a disaster and before you can move back into your home, you may need immediate emergency housing.  This can be a Red Cross shelter, a mobile home, a tent or one of many other innovative housing ideas.Discussion with Liz Root, Disaster Assistance specialist.

Kate and co host Barb Lonsky discuss the COVID-19 coronavirus, its causes, presentations, treatments, and protection.  Kate has a 40 year background in emergency management with special studies in pandemic response.  Barb has a 35 year medical background of respiratory therapy and accompanying experience with previous viral and other infections. Learn what to do and why you should. And stay safe. 

In our interview with Dr. Richard Oelberger we discuss trauma and its effects on disaster survivors, relief workers and police who encounter these difficult situations. Richard has his own podcast about sports psychology, RichardListens on Spotify and Instagram. 

In the early morning hours of April 27th, 1865, America's biggest maritime disaster occurred just north of Memphis on the Mississippi River.  The riverboat Sultana exploded, killing approximately 2100 recently released Union prisoners on their way home after the war.  It's the biggest little disaster you never heard of. 

Co-Host John Horrell discusses his recent mandatory evacuation from his home for the Kincade fire in Sonoma County California.  John discusses his experience evacuating with three cats, dos and don'ts and strategies for planning and escaping safely.  Image Courtesy LA Times. 

The Great Molasses Flood, sometimes referred to locally as the Boston Molassacre, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. This event killed 21 people and created a 40-foot wave of molasses which buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. In 2008 the Georgia sugar refinery explosion was an industrial disaster that occurred on February 7, 2008, in Port Wentworth, Georgia. Fourteen people were killed and forty injured when a dust explosion occurred at a sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar.  

We've all heard about the deadly influenza outbreak of 1918, but how did it affect real people.  Disaster Tales has gone through local records to find details lost in the overall pandemic.  Archivist Renea Dauntes co-hosts.

On January 12th, 1888 an arctic cold front, the coldest ever measured, raced down the center of the American heartland.  There were far below zero temperatures, windchills measured at -110 F and freezing effects as far south as Brownsville, Texas.  The storm hit the Dakota Territories, Minnesota and Nebraska about the same time children were walking home from school.  This storm was a killer. 

The Branch Davidian siege at Waco in 1993 was a deadly carnival of coincidence, misjudgement and errors.  This is the third and final part of our Waco podcast.  It's part of a collaboration with Home on the Strange podcast host Lynsie Wilson.  You can find Part 1 here:  https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/httpsfeedsbuzzsproutcom291866rss/home-on-the-strange Part 2 is on Disaster Tales and you can find it here: https://disastertales.podbean.com/e/waco-part-2-the-prelude/ We hope you listen to all three parts in order to get the full story. 

Home on the Strange host Lynsie Wilson joins us to discuss the history of the Branch Davidians, the rise of David Koresh, and the circumstances that led over 70 people to their deaths. It remains to this day one of the largest domestic tragedies involving the United States Government, and is still referenced in popular culture regularly. This episode contains graphic content. For early access to part 3, please help support our show by going to Patreon and becoming a patron!  This is part 2.  If you haven't already heard it, go straight to Home on the Strange Podcast for Part 1!

With the advent of nationwide railroad services, Circuses and other entertainment groups took to the railways to travel from city to city. There were many tragic accidents, but in the early twentieth century, the Hammond Rail Disaster and the Con T. Kennedy Circus disaster were among the most deadly. 

Beginning in the spring of 1918 and circling the world three times in the next 18 months, an influenza pandemic killed as many as 50 million people.  The disease killed many more than the ongoing First World War.  Find out why it was called the Spanish Flu and lots of other amazing details.  And thanks for listening. 

On October 8th, 1871, the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, the nation's most deadly wildfire raged through eastern Wisconsin.  The Peshtigo Fire killed an estimated 2,000 Americans.  It left a permanent mark on the Midwest.  (IMPORTANT CORRECTION:  Per listener Neil Miller, Door county is in Wisconsin, not Michigan. Thank you, Neil!) 

From December 16th, 1811 to February 7th 1812, the area where the boot heel of Missouri meets Tennessee and Kentucky were devastated by over 2,000 earthquakes. The initial quakes were so strong they rang church bells in Boston and woke President Madison and his wife Dolly from their sleep in Washington, D.C.  Lakes drained, steaming hot sulphur geysers blew up from the ground and the Mississippi River ran backwards.  This often overlooked seismic area is still active today.

Three minutes before midnight March 12th, 1928, the Saint Francis Dam near Santa Clarita, California catastrophically failed.  This is the second-greatest loss of life in California's history after the 1906 Earthquake. Find out how a series of poor decisions put hundreds of people in harm's way. 

The morning of April 18th, 1906, the city of San Francisco was struck by a 7.1 earthquake. The quake and resultant fire killed over 3,000 people and left nearly 200,000 homeless.  This episodes includes contemporary, on site interviews conducted in 1906.

In the early 20th century labor unions were beginning to work for changes in safety and health laws at the workplace. But it took two factory fires and hundreds of deaths to finally get the attention of the legislature. The Triangle Waist Factory in New York City and the Binghamton Clothing Factory in Binghamton, New York changed the lives of workers nationwide.

California's deadly Camp Fire killed 85 and completely destroyed the small town of Paradise.  Kate and co host John Horrell discuss the fire and consequent conversations about planning and warnings.

In 2004 Florida was hit by 4 major hurricanes: Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.  By the end of September every single county in the state had a disaster declaration.  Kate and her friend John Horrell discuss their experiences.

Hurricane Audrey wreaked havoc in Louisiana in 1957.  This episode includes first hand accounts from survivors.  

Love Canal's Environmental Disaster was over a century in the making.  Hundreds of people suffered the effects of toxins and carcinogens until the US government stepped in.  This disaster sparked legislation that created the EPA and the Superfund program.