Overcoming Disaster

Wildfires that decimate entire towns, tornados that destroy everything in their path, and hurricanes so powerful they bring a water surge so high that communities are turned into ocean. Imagine being trapped in one of these events, paralyzed with fear, believing you and your family are going to die. Rebuilding your home and the community is a challenge, but overcoming the emotional aftermath can be just as, or more traumatic than, surviving the event itself. Dr. Phil meets Danielle who survived Hurricane Ian as it decimated her community and flooded her home, while she and her two sons with disabilities were trapped inside. Now, Danielle says the trauma she endured during the storm has left her barely living. Then, Athena and her husband, Simon, say their 9-year-old son, Xavier, was never the same after he was pulled from the rubble after a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma tore down his school, leaving him buried alive and killing his classmates. Tragically, just weeks before the fifth anniversary of the tornado, Athena and Simon say Xavier took his own life due to the trauma he endured that day. Dr. Phil also sits down with Xavier's sisters, Haley and Marissa, who were emotionally affected by the tornado as well.