National Geographic Channel Airs In-Depth Documentary on HURRICANE SANDY Today, 11/15

SUPERSTORM 2012, a one-hour special, premieres tonight, November 15, at 10 p.m. ET/PT in the U.S. and encores on Sunday, November 18, at 7 p.m.  It airs globally this month in 172 countries under the title "Superstorm New York: What Really Happened," and sister Spanish language network Nat Geo Mundo will premiere it on Friday, November 23, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. 

Go inside the eye of the storm to understand how 90 mph winds extended from its center and driving rains and fatal storm surges left thousands displaced and millions without power — with the hardest hit in New Jersey and New Yorkcommunities, who are still reeling in its aftermath.  And for the first time, find out in depth how this storm — dubbed a "Frankenstorm" by some media — developed and grew, taking almost 200 lives from the Caribbean to the East Coast, and dig further into the unpredictability of nature's fury in the 21st century. 

To see an exclusive look at storm footage included in the special, click here

Superstorm 2012 also weaves together user-generated stories from those who rode out the catastrophic storm, first responders, weather experts and storm chasers.  For example, we'll see home video of an explosion at the ConEd power plant in New York.  "Looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, and everyone was screaming," John Mattiuzzie, a documentary film maker and resident of Brooklyn, explains. 

And hear from one family who captured on their phone camera three trees falling outside their house.  "I've never felt something like that before," said John Mateer, "home is the safest place you know and to feel threatened, it feels extremely frightening.... like I was in a horror movie."

Also, hear in detail for the first time from New York Fire Department Social Media Manager Emily Rahimi, who chronicles how she answered Twitter messages because people could not get through to 911.  "This storm was definitely a 21st century storm.  This was the first one, I think, to use social media for help," she recalls in the documentary.

"This was a storm that is rewriting the record books," says Owen.  "We watched the initial weather coverage, saw the tragic, ever-present news images of whole neighborhoods under water, cars floating in the streets of Manhattan and a coastline in ruins, and continue to follow the daunting stories of recovery and cleanup.  Our goal in producing this film is to get the complete picture on why it happened, understand the science behind its extreme forces, and learn how it left behind such a tableau of damage, destruction and grief."