Washoe County Library System

Each episode of 'The Indestructibles' takes a 360 degree look at the science of surviving an extreme disaster. Through cutting-edge CGI, breathtaking footage and reenactments, National Geographic uncovers the hard and fast science behind some of the most amazing survival stories of our time. Includes ten full episodes on three discs.

Discover how human beings react to danger—and what makes the difference between life and death

“Fascinating and useful . . . [shows that] the most important variable in an emergency is your own behavior.”—The New York Times

Today, nine out of ten Americans live in places at significant risk of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorism, or other disasters. Tomorrow, some of us will have...

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, longtime New Orleans residents Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun are cast into an unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water. In the days after the storm, Abdulrahman traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared-- arrested and accused of being an agent of al Qaeda.

In Donegal in the spring of 1945, a farmhand runs into a burning barn and does not come out alive. The farm's owner, Barnabas Kane, can only look on as his friend dies and all 43 of his cattle are destroyed in the blaze. Following the disaster, the bull-headed and proudly self-sufficient Barnabas is forced to reach out to the community for assistance. But resentment simmers over the farmhand's death, and Barnabas and his family begin to believe their...

Based on true events, this compelling survival story by award-winning novelist Jane Kirkpatrick is full of grit and endurance. Beset by storms, bad timing, and desperate decisions, 8 women, 17 children, and one man must outlast winter in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1844.

A memoir of the author's experiences as a survivor of the 2004 tsunami that killed her parents, husband, and two young sons recounts her struggles with profound grief and survivor's guilt and her gradual steps toward healing.

Directed by Spike Lee, this two-part, four hour documentary revisits New Orleans five years after Katrina, and four years since the premiere of Lee's landmark, triple Emmy-winning HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Featuring many of the principals seen in the first documentary, the new film opens with February's celebratory Super Bowl parade before delving into such issues as relocation, rebuilding, mental-health concerns,...

Orphaned and homeless after a tsunami decimates their coastal India town, teenage sisters Ahalya and Sita Ghai are abducted and sold to a Mumbai brothel owner before they are helped by an American attorney fighting human trafficking.

Early morning on Monday, October 9, 2017, wildfires burned through Northern California, resulting in 44 fatalities. In addition, 6,200 homes and 8,900 structures and were destroyed. Author Brian Fiess firsthand account of this tragic event is an honest, unflinching depiction of his personal experiences, including losing his house and every possession he and his wife had that didnt fit into the back of their car. In the days that followed, as the fires...