Brian and some locals time travel to Galveston, Texas, for a story of triumph over tragedy, then to St. Augustine, Florida, to find out why the Spanish set their sights on the sunshine state. First stop, Galveston in 1900, site of the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. They find out why the local U.S. Weather Bureau chief, Isaac Cline, grossly underestimated its power, leaving the city unprepared for its deadly destruction. They visit the old weather bureau building where Cline would take his readings and into one of the few homes that survived the storm.

Brian and guests travel to the Mojave Desert in the 1940's to see who had "The Right Stuff" at Edwards Air Force Base. Then to Atlanta at the end of the Civil War to witness General Sherman's destructive "March to the Sea."