Straight out of jail, Sombra returns to his life as a drug dealer in the creole slum of Lisbon. In between the money he has lent and can't get back, the money he owes, a fanciful iguana, an invasive little girl and a ringleader who begins to mistrust him, he starts to think that he might have been better off in the clink...

An unexplained, local split in the atmosphere causes a series of total unpredictable, yet devastating tornadoes. Rookie fireman Brian Flynn gets trapped in the underground sewage with his girlfriend, deputy mayor James 'Jim' Lawrence and climatologist Dr. Cassie Lawrence's niece Lori. Mayor Leonardo of New York initially refuses to pay proper attention to the phenomenon, a 'reelection threat', so the alert status remains too low for long. Atypical lightning discovered inside tornadoes adds unprecedented dangers. The Lawrences and aeronautics renegade Dr. Lars Liggenhorn conceive a possible solution by launching rockets, but NASA's Dr. Quinn overrules them, imposing standard silver iodine.

For Rod Kimble, performing stunts is a way of life, even though he is rather accident-prone. Poor Rod cannot even get any respect from his stepfather, Frank, who beats him up in weekly sparring matches. When Frank falls ill, Rod devises his most outrageous stunt yet to raise money for Frank's operation -- and then Rod will kick Frank's butt.