As implied by the "Real Time" title, the episode reconstructs the entire event chronologically, from the initial forecasts to the tornado's formation and its 40-minute path of destruction through the densely populated city. The episode uses a combination of meteorological analysis, news broadcasts, intense storm chaser footage, and harrowing first-hand accounts from survivors to document the tornado's impact as it happened. Key events covered in the episode include the direct hits on Plaza Towers Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School, the complete destruction of entire neighbourhoods, and the immediate, desperate search-and-rescue efforts by first responders and civilians in the storm's aftermath.

A multiple-vortex tornado barrels through Hattiesburg, Mississippi and leaves behind a path of destruction. The entire city and the University of Southern Mississippi campus are left in ruin.

This is the story of the Henryville, Indiana, tornado as told by those who witnessed and survived it.

An EF-4 multiple-vortex tornado rips through the heart of Tuscaloosa, Ala., leaving a path of destruction 80 miles long and clocking 190-mile-per-hour winds.

Recounted through interviews and home videos, this is the story of the Washington tornado and the people who experienced the storm first-hand.

A shelter provides refuge from the storm until it becomes a trap; a grandmother who runs a daycare, saves herself and three toddlers by taking cover in a bathtub; a neighbor feels guilty for leaving a woman caught outside.

A single mother and her two sons get sucked into the vortex of a tornado and survive; a family from Mississippi learns that survival sometimes means needing help; preparation for a disaster means endurance for a community in Texas.

Mother risks her life to save her two children as her house is torn to pieces; family risks their lives to save their neighbors; mother and daughter learn the meaning of survival.

Strangers unite to survive a tornado; storm chasers rescue a family; friends become first responders to help a trapped family in their own home; injured toddler is saved by a police officer.

Chance encounters enable strangers to survive tornado nightmares; separation for a family hurts worse than the storm; two strangers rely on instinct to survive a multiple vortex tornado.

A family skips the town shelter; an immigrant from Nigeria finds strength is his new community after the loss of his wife.

A girl who lost her own grandmother to a tornado three years earlier is saved by three rescuers; a older girl finds her inner courage; a campus ministry member and a storm chaser unite to help people in the storm.

Frozen yogurt stop becomes shelter for strangers in Joplin, Missouri; families look for help after winds destroy their small town; cell phones save a couple's daughter during a storm.