Book Description

September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating personal tragedy.

Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature. ... Read more

Reviews (197)

Isaac's Storm a near-perfect book -- 4 1/2 stars
At the turn of the century, the most vicious hurricane in recorded history hit Galveston, Texas, with such fury that it knocked the city back to the 1800s.

Erik Larson, using the diaries of survivors, builds a classic tale of tortured humanity. The narrative grows like the mounting winds of the hurricane, reaching a sudden crescendo that surprises the reader as much as the storm might have surprised its victims.

I'd give this book five stars but for the lack of photographs. Larson describes existing photos in vivid detail, but for some reason hasn't included them in the book. After reading about the devastation and heartbreak, I wanted to see it for myself, however morbid that may be. It's hard to believe that one storm could do so much damage and kill so many.

Isaac's Storm surpasses The Perfect Storm, its closest rival in storm-disaster books, in narrative, structure, language, detail, and pacing. Well done, Mr. Larson.

Next up: In the Heart of the Sea.

A review from a decendent of survivors of the 1900 Storm
My mother was born on Galveston, so I grew up hearing about Galveston hurricanes. This included the 1900 storm.

Larson's book is a superb historical account of the 1900 storm. I give "Isaac's Storm" very high marks for it's huge wealth of information. This is most significant considering the scope of the disaster and the limited amount of literature concerning it.

On the other hand, Larson's account of the storm failed to convey to me the horror and sheer magnitude felt by those who survived. I recall hearing of the 1900 storm as a boy. I can remember still the raw and hollow feeling those tales left inside me, not unlike how the world felt after another horrible September tragedy, September 11th, 2001. The lack of emotion was as if Mr. Larson were writing one of Isaac's Cline's reports to Moore - rather dry and impersonal.

For those interested in a little less history and more of the impact the storm had on the lives of Gavlestonians, I would recommend another book that I have read more than once about the 1900 storm. It is "A Weekend In September" by John Edward Weems and is available through Amazon.com. Of the two books, Larson's has greater depth of historical information. Weems' book conveys more of the personal tragedy. Weems' book also includes much about Isaac Cline, but is written from the perspective of a young Galvestonian school teacher.

Another solid Larson book
Just as in Devil in the White City, Larson brings a time and place to astonishing life in this tale of turn of the century scientific hubris. Galveston literally jumps off the page, with every ill-fated decision draped with tragic historical significance. As with other Larson titles, the prose can occasionally drag with details that may not be immediately relevant or interesting; however, sticking with the narrative is nicely rewarded by page-turning drama once the hurrican kicks into gear. Overall, a compelling read about a shocking disaster that many of us know nothing about.

WOW - great and scary....
Another one of those tremendous events that most people today know nothing of. More people died in this hurricane than many battles fought and this gets little to no attention.
Go read it.

The best book
Students of the 1900 storm that destroyed Galveston "cut their teeth" on older books like "Death From The Sea" and "Weekend In September". But Larson's work has become the definitve. ... Read more

Book Description

How the Miami Hurricanes rose from a laughingstock to a college football legend-and reshaped American sports.

When fans think of college football, they think of Miami-the cool school with street cred that all the kids dream of playing for. A powerhouse unlike any other, they are a dynasty fueled not by individuals but by the aura of "The Miami Vice"-a swaggering, trash-talking, us-against-the-world mentality. But less than 25 years ago, the program faced extinction. Now, five national championships-and five different coaches-later, Miami is the preeminent football factory, boasting such high-profile NFL alumni as Michael Irvin, Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp, Jim Kelly, Vinny Testaverde, Clinton Portis, and Jeremy Shockey.

Nothing is typical about the 'Canes. Not the brutal, "voluntary" 6 a.m. workouts in July. Or the merciless drilling of teammates who show fear. Not the constant pressure from their Godfathers, the ex-Canes who want them to uphold the legacy-and will make them pay if they don't. And certainly not the reputation that has made the Hurricanes synonymous with excellence-even among superstar athletes. Now, an award-winning sportswriter gives us a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the Miami program-after more than ten years of special access as a former UM student and beat writer. This is the amazing story of how Miami has won more national championships over the last two decades than Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Florida State combined-and gone from near-death to dynasty. ... Read more

Book Description

It was the Perfect Storm. But instead of raging far out in the Atlantic, the Great Hurricane of 1938 left a wake of death and destruction across seven states. It battered J. P. Morgan's Long Island estate, wiped out beach communities from Watch Hill to Newport, flooded the Connecticut Valley, and flattened Vermont's prized maples. Traveling at record speeds, the storm raced up the Atlantic Coast, reaching New York and New England ahead of hurricane warnings and striking with such ferocity that seismographs in Alaska picked up the impact. Winds, clocked at 186 mph, stripped cars of their paint. Walls of water 50 feet high swept homes and entire families out to sea. Sandwiched between the Great Depression and World War II, the storm had a profound impact upon a generation. "The day of the biggest wind has just passed," the newswires read the next day, "and a great part of the most picturesque America, as old as the Pilgrims, has gone beyond recall or replacement." Drawing upon newspaper accounts, the personal testimony of survivors, forecasters, and archival footage, SUDDEN SEA recounts that terrifying day in gripping detail. Scotti describes the unlikely alignment of meteorological conditions that conspired to bring a tropical cyclone to the Northeast. A masterful storyteller, Scotti follows the trajectory of that awful wind--and recovers for posterity the lost stories of those whose lives, families, and communities were destroyed by the Hurricane of 1938. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

beautiful and dramatic
I picked this book up on a whim and once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. Not having been alive in 1938 I knew very little about this disaster before reading Ms.Scotti's well reserched book. The way she weaves personal stories so seamlessly with the factual information creates a riviting tale of a way of life that would never fuloly be seen again. Ms.Scotti talks about the death and destrction that ravaged the east coast (682 deaths, 432 in Rhode Island alone) but she also talks about the amazing, and in some instaces humorus ways that people surrived the storm.
One of the things that I really love about the book is that it is so full of information and stories, yet I never felt confused or lost, I can't say that for many of the books I have read these days. I think Ms.Scotti is one of the most gifted writers I have had the pleasure of reading. Her ability to tug at your heart strings and not have it be in least bit over done is very refreshing. Personaly I think she is a breath of air as welcome as the sea breeze that must have been blowing along the beach only hours before the storm touched down. I can not wait to read her next book.

Sudden storm sends shockwaves to end summer on somber note
This is nice read, an almost pleasant (but, strangely, not gripping) saga of the great New England Hurricane of September 21,1938. Much of the focus of the storm and the story is on the wealthy Hampton areas of Long Island and the Newport area of Rhode Island. Scotti sets the time and place well: the end of the Depression (with the damage still evident), the brewing war in Europe, and the start of the university school year. This storm came not only at an unusual time but also at unusual places. Much of the damage to homes is the result of wealthy people taking advantage of splendid if dangerous views of the ocean. Some of the dead are domestics left behind to shutter summer homes.

"Sea" offers a clear companion and comparison to "Isaac's Storm," the epic of the Galveston hurricane of 1900. "Sea" is able to focus much more on the human element of the catastrophe, using interviews with survivors, photographs (fourteen glossy pages), and records that were just not kept in or saved from 1900. Survivors are alive today. "Sea" is more about the people who fought, including some who survived, the storm. In "Sea," a smug senior forecaster in Washington, DC dismisses the hurricane forecast of an assistant, striking the word 'hurricane' from the assistant's report for September 21 and leading to a lack of warning to the targeted, highly populated areas. The fact that such a storm was unique or that most of the Atlantic's similar storms pushed to the northeast and out to sea was not a good reason to ignore the disastrous consequences of the "Bermuda high" that kept the storm closer to land. The post-storm analysis may have been the real impetus for the modernization of weather forecasting. repairing the damage to railroads, telephone lines, livestock and roads helped usher in the modern age. Air passenger traffice between New York and Boston increased 500% in the week after the storm.

Scotti, a journalist and mystery novelist, uses words well. "Sea" is laden with brief, connected, poignant stories. Capturing the wildness of the sea and storms is no small task. Scotti even includes a brief set of scenes from the life of Katherine Hepburn from that day: swimming and golfing in Connecticut, before seeing her estate, Tara, being washed away. "Sea: has about five small maps; each could have used a bit more detail. And a larger map, tracking the entire storm of its short life, would have been a good, consistent visual reference point for the reader, and would provide more of the dynamic nature of the storm. Without it, some of the stories are static and difficult to connect.

The Storm of the Century
I started reading this book on Saturday and was finished on Monday morning. It completely held my interest. I enjoyed the human element and couldn't wait to find out what happened to the many people in this devasting hurricane. Each account was breath-taking. It makes me want to know more...I am recommending this book to everyone I come in contact with. That anyone lived through this storm was amazing. It makes you realize what is really important in life. I enjoyed the author's telling of this story.

Interesting book on well-known and published hurricane
The beginning of the book hooked me...but somewhere mid-stream it became a hard read...it took about 6 sittings to read the 240ish page book. Meteorology was barely touched upon, which is fine, considering the Weather Bureau was only taking surface observations at the time and any other deductions would be mere guess-work. Besides, non-mets usually make all kinds of errors, such as assuming the Saffir-Simpson Scale was in use (I don't even think the term "Great Hurricane" had been coined as of that time.) One of the forecasters involved actually became one of the best-skilled hurricane forecasters around...it would have been nice if she expounded on his later career, but no matter.

It seemed like the author tried too hard to weave the individual stories together, and I got lost when going back and forth from different spots in Rhode Island and Long Island. I felt like I was adrift in the storm myself. I did like how she followed up on the characters who survived...that was a nice touch. If you're interested in southern New England and weather, this should be a good buy.

"A strange ochre light came off the ocean..."
Powerful hurricanes are infrequent visitors to New England, but 'The Long Island Express' not only paid a visit---it dropped in unannounced on September 21, 1938 just as many summer residents were on the beach and closing up their ocean-front cottages, among them actress Katharine Hepburn and her mother.

The Weather Bureau gave no cause for alarm, at least not after the hurricane skirted Florida and headed north. The meteorologists in Washington D.C. assumed that the storm would dissipate in the cold waters of the Atlantic, as had happened to all north-bound hurricanes since the Great September Gale devastated New England in 1815.

According to the author, no one could have been prepared for the 1938 storm's speed and ferocity. Sweeping northward from Cape Hatteras, building tremendous momentum as it advanced, the hurricane raced over six hundred miles in only twelve hours. Only the captain of the 'Carinthia,' a small 20,000 ton luxury cruiser that weathered the ferocious brawl 150 miles north of Florida might have given warning. He did radio to shore that his barometer had dropped "almost an inch to 27.85 in less than an hour. It was one of the lowest readings ever recorded in the North Atlantic."

Author Scotti interviewed many survivors of this ferocious storm, and includes the story of Katharine Hepburn who had to escape her seaside house through a dining room window and then battle her way to higher ground:

"When the Hepburns reached high ground, they looked back. [Their house] which had endured tide and wind since the 1870's, pirouetted slowly and sailed away."

Many folks were not as fortunate as the Hepburns. The storm surge was so sudden and so high many houses were completely inundated before their inhabitants could escape. One survivor saw a submerged house leap twenty-five feet into the air and explode. Another watched as a school bus containing his children was overtaken by the onrushing water. Others climbed to the top floors of their homes, then clung desperately to pieces of their roof as their houses washed away beneath them.

It is estimated that 682 people died and another 1,754 were seriously wounded by the 'Long Island Express.' Scotti focuses on a few representative stories, and relates tantalizing fragments of many others.

If you would like to read a first-hand account of the 'Long Island Express,' September 21, 1938 was also the day that Everett S. Allen, recent college graduate and future author of "A Wind to Shake the World," began his first 'real' job as a reporter for the New Bedford 'Standard Times.' His book is one of the finest accounts of this vastly underreported hurricane. ... Read more

Book Description

When Ms. Frizzle's class takes a field trip to the local weather station, they end up in a hurricane. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The magic school bus inside a hurricane
I liked this book because it is a good way of showing what a hurricane looks like, how they work, what i can/can not do. It talls you how they are formed and where you can go to be safe from a hurricane.

Aw, heck. What's not to like?
For those familiar with the "Magic Schoolbus" series, Mrs. Frizzle's adventures with her class all have a similar plotline. Mrs. Frizzle explains some scientific topic, whether it's the solar system, the dinosaurs, etc. and then lures her children onto her special schoolbus for an adventure. During the adventure the only child that is regularly singled out as the perpetual schlamatzel is Arnold, a boy who doesn't care much for adventures, thank you. In the end, the class is safe and has learned quite a lot, despite themselves. Even Arnold. Then there is a "letters" section in the back where readers wishing to complain about scientific inaccuracies (in this case, how dangerous it would be to be caught in a hurricane) are one-upped by already existing letters. The particular plotline in this hurricane obsessed book was not too dissimilar from the others, and was a lot of fun. I used to read these books to kids that I babysat back in my high school years, and certain types of children love them. The pages are always busy with text, speech bubbles, experiments that kids can do at home, and various factoids sprinkled hither and yon. I do wonder how long these series will last before it is regarded as hopelessly dated by the young. Please note that the review previous to my own was last written in 1997. Currently the show is doing well as a tv series, voiced by Lily Tomlin. Just the same, it would be very difficult to read this book to a group of kids. The books are relatively small and crammed with so much extra text that children will want to handle them one on one, rather than with a large group. Each book would pair well with a companion non-fiction book on the same topic.

This imaginative book has the creativity to keep kids alive.
I'm a kid and watch the Magic School Bus on TV. The books are even better! When Arnold gets lost in a hurricane on one of Ms.Frizzle's wacky field trips, the kids need to know the parts of a hurricane to find him. I thought it was creative and funny to include a radio that knew everything and could dance. By the time Ms.Frizzle's class goes on the real field trip, they have become experts on hurricanes. The weather team is amazed at the intelligence of the students. This book is great because it's not like those other books that lag on and on about one subject without any excitment. The Magic School Bus books make subjects like hurricanes, fun to learn about . I liked how the kids knew more than the weather team. I give this book two thumbs up!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Book Description

The riveting account of a 1913 storm that paralyzed the heart of America

Autumn gales have pursued mariners across the Great Lakes for centuries. On Friday, November 7, 1913, those gales captured their prey. After four days of winds up to 90 miles an hour, freezing temperatures, whiteout blizzard conditions, and mountainous seas, 19 ships had been lost, two dozen had been thrown ashore, 238 sailors were dead, and the city of Cleveland was confronting the worst natural disaster in its history.

In White Hurricane, writer and mariner David G. Brown combines narrative intensity with factual depth to re-create the events of the "perfect storm" that struck America's heartland. Interweaving human drama, mystery, and historical consequence, Brown has created a vast epic ranging over Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie and echoing down the decades. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Entertaining & accurate; better than fiction.
Dave Brown has really done the necessary, comprehensive research. His description of Great Lakes' shipping is 100% accurate. The reporting is factual and not embellished with contrived dialogue. I was an engineer in Great Lakes and ocean ships, one cited in the book, and can visualize the events he described and emphasize with the crewmen's situations.

The last trip of the season
Ninety years ago this November, one of the worst disasters in Great Lakes history took place over a period of four days, when twelve ships foundered and thirty-one were stranded, and 253 sailors drowned during the deadliest storm ever to hit the Great Lakes. The actual toll was probably higher, but no single agency in 1913 kept track of vessels lost or sailors killed. According to this author, the death toll did not include "the commercial fishermen, hunters, or anglers who also lost their lives."

At least three books have been written about this storm, including "Fresh Water Fury" (1960), "Ships Gone Missing" (1992), and this book by David G. Brown, published in 2002. One of the things that sets Brown's book apart from the others is his meticulous meteorological reconstruction of the 1913 storm that raged for four days in early November and sank ships on Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron (the worst hit) and Erie.

According to the author's research, the weather in early November 1913 was remarkably dry and balmy, tempting the shipping companies into making one last run before the end of the season. The U.S. Weather Bureau issued storm warnings on November 7, 8, and 9 but these did not come close to suggesting the true ferocity of the 'White Hurricane.' In fact the Weather Bureau never did post hurricane warnings--two red flags with black centers, displayed one above the other--on the Great Lakes, preferring to reserve that warning for tropical storms even though the four-day storm that struck the Lakes was of hurricane intensity.

This book is organized as a temporal narrative of the storm, starting on Wednesday, November 5 as freighters such as the 'Charles S. Price' took on loads of coal, railroad ties, and iron ore for their last trips of the season. The 'Price's' Assistant Engineer Milton Smith had such a strong premonition about the forthcoming voyage that he quit his job and went home. He would later be asked to identify the bodies of his shipmates that washed up on Huron's icy shores.

On November 6, ships on western Lake Superior were already experiencing rough weather, but nothing that qualified as a full-fledged November gale--not yet. In Detroit, a prominent halo ringed the moon, perhaps bringing to mind the rhyme: "When halos ring the moon or sun/ Rain is coming on the run." In the case of this particular storm, it was a warning of the ferocious blizzard that would paralyze Cleveland and other cities on the Lakes, and add to the woes of the ships that were already battling life-threatening gales.

The empty wooden bulk freighter 'Louisania' was the first casualty of the storm. On Saturday, November 8, the onrushing gale stranded her near Port des Mortes on Lake Michigan, where she burned to the waterline. Up on Lake Superior, the storm "began picking apart the 'L.C. Waldo' shortly after midnight near the Keweenaw Peninsula." Her sailors were some of the lucky few to be picked up from their stranded, ice-bound freighter, but they would have to wait until Monday, November 10 to be rescued.

Brown's narrative of the height of the storm is truly frightening and he can only speculate on the fates of the ships that disappeared far from land. Of the seventeen ships known to be in lower Lake Huron on Sunday, November 9, only two survived and they sustained serious damage.

This book also provides an extended aftermath, appendices, bibliography, and index.

If you'd like to read more about the 'Big Blow' of 1913, I highly recommend Dwight Boyer's "True Tales of the Great Lakes," William Ratigan's "Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals," and the above-mentioned "Ships Gone Missing" by Robert J. Hemming.

Amazing and scary
I read this book when my father-in-law bought a 40 footer and docked it in Port Huron with easy access to Lake Huron. Living in Michigan most of my life and now in Chicago, I have always appreciated the beauty of The Great Lakes. As we cruise the lake in all its beauty and glory, I can't help but wonder just what scatters the floor of Lake Huron or any of the others. This book illustrates the dramatic account of the only Great Lakes hurricane, if such a thing could happen.

This book was no less than amazing and will really open the eyes of anyone that takes the fury of the beautiful Great Lakes for granted.

This is the REAL "Perfect Storm"!
While the movie "The Perfect Storm" chronicles a great "Nor'Easter," it can't hold a candle to the White Hurricane of 1913. The stories of heroism, foolishness, kindness, and ruthlessness serve to highlight the ferocity of the great storm. And the eerie coincidences, premonitions, and unexplained happenings before, during, and after the storm make this one exciting ride.

The author does a good job detailing the storm, but some maps would have been helpful. More photos of boats (no, they're not called ships!) and some photos of key characters would have been nice, as well. There is a lot of information on Great Lakes history, so he should have been able to come up with such artifacts.

My grandfather was captain of a "longboat" on the lakes, and he was a sailor in WWI in the Atlantic, and WWII in the Pacific. He said a storm on the Great Lakes was a lot worse than ocean storms because of all the reasons the author details, but also because the water is in a much smaller "container" than in the ocean...so the power multiplies because it has nowhere to go. And the results are horrifying.

I've lived in the Great Lakes area all my life. If you want some "extreme" excitement, come and ride out a November gale. Or, read this book for an excellent "virtual" ride!

A must read for any sailor on the Lakes
As a Coastie recently stationed on the USCGC ACACIA out of Charlevoix, MI. I found this book to be very helpful in my learning about the Great Lakes geographically, meteorilogically, historically. If you are at all interested in Great Lakes lore then you will thoroughly enjoy this book as well as learn a few things you may not have known, such as why lake storms are different from those on the sea. ... Read more

Book Description

What causes the earth’s weather? How do twisters form? What are the deadliest storms on earth? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Magic Tree House Research Guide: Twisters and Other Terrible Storms, Jack and Annie’s guide to nature’s wildest weather. Includes photographs, definitions, an index, information on twisters, hurricanes, blizzards, forecasting the weather, storm chasers, and much more! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Twisters
Twisters are tornadoes. I learned about them in the book Twisters by Will Osborne. Twisters wreak everything. Twisters can destroy homes because the winds go 300 miles per hour. They hit in the midwestern U.S. in April, May and June. I feel excited about this book because it's good to know about natural disasters so if it happens you'll be prepared. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A deadly hurricane called 'The Long Island Express'
Powerful hurricanes are infrequent visitors to New England. 'The Long Island Express' not only paid a visit---it dropped in unannounced on September 21, 1938 just as many summer residents were on the beach and closing up their ocean-front cottages. The weatherman gave no cause for alarm. "Cloudy skies and gusty conditions" did nothing to warn New Englanders of the imminent arrival of a 500-mile wide hurricane with peak wind gusts of 180 miles an hour.

This is how the book jacket of "A Wind to Shake the World" describes the coming of the storm:

"No one could have been prepared for the storm's ferocity. Sweeping suddenly northward from Cape Hatteras, building tremendous momentum as it advanced, the hurricane raced over six hundred miles in only twelve hours. Winds of 100 to 130 miles an hour and swiftly rising water of almost tidal-wave proportions slammed into the shore from South Jersey to Boston, most severely from Long Island to Cape Cod."

The hurricane struck Long Island around 3:30 PM. Few of the summer folk or permanent residents on the Island's south shore had a chance to escape, as waves between thirty and fifty feet high pounded the coastline.

Entire homes and families were swept into the ocean.

September 21st was also the day that Everett S. Allen, recent college graduate and future author of "A Wind to Shake the World", began his first 'real' job as a reporter for the New Bedford 'Standard Times.'

It took Allen over thirty years to recover from his own traumatic experiences during the storm, and write about one of the most under-reported natural disasters of 20th century America. Six hundred New Englanders were killed in less than twelve hours, and yet it is very difficult to find accounts of the hurricane that came to be called "The Long Island Express". I first heard of it in a story told by one of my Down East relatives---

"On the day of the hurricane, a Yankee farmer received a package containing a barometer that he had ordered through the mail. No matter how many times he tapped it, the mercury remained stuck at the bottom of the glass. Finally, he re-packaged the 'broken' barometer and returned it to the post office. By the time he got back to his own property, his house had washed out to sea."

If you are an armchair junkie of natural disaster stories such as "Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History," you should definitely read "A Wind to Shake the World." Although the survivors were interviewed over thirty years after the hurricane, Allen wrote that some of them still wept, "to see again the sick color of sky and sea on that day, to hear the scream of the wind, which was everywhere...to see man himself, face down and weaving like weed in the roiling shallows or open-mouthed and still, half-buried in the damp sand." ... Read more

Book Description

Pete Davies has flown into the eyes of hurricanes with daredevil aviators. He's met with wild-eyed meteorologists who are obsessed with finding out exactly why hurricanes occur and how to predict their onslaughts more accurately. And he's joined heroic aid teams as they've coped with the physical and emotional devastation left in the wake of these awesome storms.

In Inside the Hurricane, Davies sweeps readers from the Caribbean to the Bay of Bengal, describing both the horrifying violence and the eerie beauty of hurricanes. He explains the weather conditions that foster them; discusses in lucid detail how scientists predict, measure, and track them; and delves into mysteries scientists are still trying to solve. Gripping accounts of the greatest hurricanes in history climax with Davies's own firsthand experiences flying into the worst storms of 1999.

A masterful combination of history, science, and adventure, Inside the Hurricane leaves readers with a chilling reminder of nature's enduring domination over man: scientists predict that the hurricanes of tomorrow will make today's Category 5 storms look small. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Interesting topic, uneven text
"Inside the Hurricane" is far more interesting than several other recent weather books (the horrid "Tying down the Wind" and the ho-hum "Eye of the Storm"). Author Pete Davies provides an exccelent account of Hurricanes Mitch and Floyd and the horrendous damage they wrought. He also sounds a dire warning about the near certainty that the Gulf or East Coasts of the U.S. will someday experience a catastrophe of epic proportions. Imagine, writes the author, if Mitch had followed the same storm track as Hurricane Irene, a Catagory 1 storm that deluged Miami not long after Floyd made headlines.

A lion's share of author Pete Davies's narrative involves the stories of the forecasters and storm chasers who track these meteorlogical beasts. And while their stories are somtimes interesting, they don't have the same power as the descriptions of the hurricaines themselves. Overall however, "Inside the Hurricane" is a decent book for weather-philes.

"Good science done by brave men on a puny budget"
Pete Davies spent the 1999 hurricane season with the scientists of the National Hurricane Center in Miami as they studied a series of fascinating and intense hurricanes and struggled with budget limitations that are, in these times of surplus, increasingly inane and unforgivable. Davies' writing is vivid and gripping; his descriptions of the devastation of Hurricane Mitch and the experience of people in the midst of the storm are absolutely unforgettable. Davies also flew missions with the NOAA's P-3 hurricane hunter aircraft and gives a good feel for the combination of raw excitement, pure terror, and occasional boredom of these epic flights. One thing missing from the book were any charts, maps, or diagrams; an appendix containing the Saffir-Simpson scale would have been nice. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in hurricanes, which should be anyone who lives in the United States. Even if your state is out of the reach of hurricane damage (and few actually are), the devastation caused by these vast and increasingly dangerous storms can cause economic disaster and human suffering on a scale not exceeded by any other natural disaster. And after reading, contact your congressional representatives and express to them your dismay that funding for important research remains at pittance levels. Too often Americans brainlessly run around chanting "We're Number One!" when what is really needed is a good long look at how money is spent in this country and who truly benefits from government funding.

Interesting, Despite Being a Bit Uneven
"Inside the Hurricane: Face to Face With Nature's Deadliest Storms", is worthwhile for anyone interested in learning more about hurricanes. This book concentrates on following the 1999 hurricane season, with an examination of the horror inflicted by 1998's Category 5 Hurricane Mitch, which killed at least 9,000 people in Central America. The author gives a riveting account of the power of Mitch, telling of its absolute devastion to the nation of Honduras.

The author concentrates on the Hurricane Research Division (HRD), the scientists who try to learn more on these powerful storms, and who fly into them for first-hand scientific observation,and the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the people responsible for making the forecasts as to where these dangerous storms will go. This is interesting stuff, especially when the scientists fly into the storms.

Unfortunately, it seems that that the author simply took info off his tape recorder and stuck it into the book, beacause a lot of the heavy science conversations which are included in this book do not have enough explanation or context.

This book is also hindered by certain editorial decisions. This book suffers from the lack of maps showing the tracks of the hurricanes the author discusses, especially because the author spends a great deal of time discussing the meandering nature of the hurricanes.

The book also contains some minor errors, some of which can be chalked up to the author not being a native American (e.g., describing as one of the highest points in Florida as "Disney's Magic Mountain", when everyone knows that he meant Disney's Space Mountain.) While these minor errors do not really detract from this book, and the above-average number of typos is not much of a problem, the real problem comes from the feel that there are times when this author does not go into needed detail. For example, the author talks about the rapid intensification of Hurricanes Opal and Camille, but while the author examined the rapid intensification of Opal, he made no such prior mention of Camille.

The author fails to provide detail in other areas. While expalantions are provided for some criticism of the media, we really don't know why the huuricane jocks at HRD are so critical of the Weather Channel's staff, especially weatherman Jim Cantori. This book has a slap-dash feel.

However, the descriptions of the hurricanes themselves surpass the author's limitations in other areas of writing. As a native of New Orleans, I've seen my share of hurricanes. One of my earliest memories is of Hurricane Betsy. I lost family in Hurricane Camille. I was one of the tens of thousands of people who evacuted, with my family, from 1998's Hurricane Georges, which was a near miss. I've done research on hurricanes for school, so I have a bit more scientific and personal knowledge than the general public. There are flaws in this book, but the postives far out weigh the negatives.

The author has not written the perfect book on hurricanes, but he is to be commended for spelling out the dangers these massive storms pose, for pointing out the lack of funding which goes into hurricane research, and for his skill in relating the tragedy which is inflicted on hurricane victims, especially the devastation of Hounduras.

Excellent book on Hurricane forecasting & research by NOAA
Well worth the money, well written, very factual; one of the better books dealing with current science of Hurricanes. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Storm Chaser is a marvelous book about the awesome beauty of atmospheric violence, the people who seek it, and the stunning photographs captured of our turbulent atmosphere at its most dramatic. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Exciting stories with detailed, accurate information.
I've had an avid interest in meteorology since I was a small child, and my bookcase is full of various weather-related books. However, Warren Faidley's "Storm Chaser: In Pursuit of Untamed Skies" is among my most favorite. The breathtaking images coupled with detailed trip logs and weather information make for a very informative, yet interesting read.

Warren Faidley is a very experienced and highly regarded weather photographer. This book definitely does his work justice as he takes you through some of his adventures with a log-style format. Inserted among the stories are his own photographs, which are in full color and are top-notch in quality. All of his accounts are technically accurate and offer a plethora of knowledge about the subject of severe weather and the discipline needed to accomplish the task of chasing storms. In the rear of the book, he also gives a few pages of information on how to photograph your own weather events. From cameras to lenses to technical specs, he covers it all.

Overall, this book is extremely informative for everyone, whether you're a novice or you've been in the field of meteorology for 50 years. I highly reccommend it to anyone wishing to expand their collection of weather reference.

5 star photography, text a little dated
"Strorm Chaser in pursuit of untamed Skies" contains some of the most awesome weather photography you will find anywhere. Lightning, tornadoes cloud formations there all here in incredable photo's.The slightly weaker part of this book is the text (makes for good reading none the less) written mostly in a diary type format that takes you on the chase from warren faidley's earliest days starting as a news photographer to the first attempts at lighting photography to the professional storm chaser. The best reading in the book is the "chase" of hurricane Andrew. Chase is not realy the proper word here it's more like "Lets set up here in this seventh story parking lot and wait" still I found this chapter to be the most adventurest of the book. Interestinly it had the weakest photography in the book, (I'm partial to the lightning and tornado photos).A few points in the book will have you checking the publication date, most noteabley pg 72 "Oklahoma City is located in one of the most potentialy dangerous locations within the (tornado) alley. It has been struck at least 33 times in the past 90 years although NO MAJOR TORNADO HAS STRUCK" (emphass mine) Of couse that all changed forever on May 3rd 1999, when one of the greatest outbreaks of tornados ever stuck the oklahoma city area with dozens of tornados including several F4's and f5's. Still if you ever find yourself channel surfing and realize you spend a lot of time on the weather channel or love to wacth those specials about wild weather on the discovery channel like I do, you will throughly enjoy this book.

The best for beginer or future storm chaser's
The very best book on storm photography! If you like the idea of storm chasing as a carrer, than this book is for you! I plan to become a storm photographer after I finish college. Hands down, Warren Faidley is one heck of a photo jurnalist!

100% Faidley
Warren Faidley, the world's only full-time storm-chasing journalist and his bestselling book are known by many in the small storm chasing community. Storm Chaser is perfect for the coffee table and for those who enjoy great weather photography but do not intend to study the scientific part of it seriously. This is a true-blue Faidley product: glossy, full color photos, excellent book layout, a sense of fun, but not much attention paid to meteorological aspects of storm chasing. For those who want some serious stuff, try Prof. Bluestein's "Tornado Alley".

Batton Down The Hatches!
Ever been in a tornado? I have, well not actually in one, but Warrien Faidley put you in the vortex of some of the best severe weather situations! This book is a must for any weather enthusaist. Even if you don't like to read, look at the coolest pictures of Lighting and Tornados. Follow Warren through his chase diary, you will honestly feel like you are with him on his chase! Check it out, it's worth the money! ... Read more

Book Description

Though the names may vary, these formidable, swirling storms are still the most devastating events in nature.

Seymour Simon makes vivid the power of hurricanes in his clear, approachable style. He describes the formation of hurricanes, the effects of heavy winds and rains, and the damage caused by flooding long after the storm has passed. Satellite images and dramatic full-color photographs add impact to stories about some infamous hurricanes, including Andrew, Camille, and Floyd. Seymour Simon also explains how forecasters rate and predict hurricanes -- and how best to prepare for them before they strike.

As in his other highly acclaimed books on natural disasters -- EARTHQUAKES, LIGHTNING, STORMS, TORNADOES, VOLCANOES,and WILDFIRES -- Seymour Simon introduces curious readers of all ages to one of the most awe-inspiring phenomena on earth.

Reviews (10)

Popular history with some flaws
I grew up in South Florida and spent many weekends on Lower Matecumbe Key, ground zero for the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. I went through Hurricane Donna and a few others in the early 1960s, and I don't care to do that again -- another reason why the 1935 disaster has long fascinated me. It is a story of heartbreaking human miscalculation in the face of an overwhelming natural event.

Drye writes well and moves the narrative along. When writing of factual matters and the experiences of those who endured the storm, the books succeeds pretty well. However, he buys into some of the political mythology surrounding the events of the storm -- e.g., that World War I veterans were sent to the Florida Keys by officials of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration to prevent them from re-staging the 1932 "Bonus March" that gave such a black eye to Herbert Hoover. As Drye notes, vets also were sent to other locations, their activities were still followed by the national media, and their absence from Washington didn't stop other veterans from pressing for payment of the bonus. Sending out-of-work veterans to the Florida Keys as a labor force for highway construction can also be interpreted as an act of New Deal good intentions -- perhaps shortsighted but hardly malicious.

The actions of federal and state officials in the hours before the hurricane struck also are open to some interpretation, but Drye chooses to create villains and heroes -- in particular, Ray Sheldon, the man who managed the three labor camps that housed the veterans. No doubt, Sheldon was largely responsible for failing to arrange the evacuation of the vets well before the storm struck. The more intriguing question, which really isn't addressed in the book, is WHY Sheldon -- who had experienced earlier Florida hurricanes -- didn't order an evacuation train until the storm was almost upon the Keys. Was it pure miscalculation, denial, or was there some bureaucratic purpose in his delay? Here, some informed speculation would have been welcome. Drye doesn't really address the question; he simply portrays Sheldon as indecisive and, post-hurricane, a liar. These he may have been but such a portrayal doesn't get much below the surface of the issue.

This leads to the most glaring deficiency in Drye's work: His book is devoid of footnotes, and the origin of much of his narrative is obscure. (To be fair, the decision to omit footnotes and a comprehensive bibliography may have been the publisher's, not Drye's.) He does acknowledge assistance from several people and lists a "selected bibliography," both of which indicate some of his sources of information; but he doesn't list any of the National Archives resources or other official documents he must have consulted, nor their locations. Nor does he give sources for certain opinionated passages, such as his explanation of how the chairman of the congressional inquiry into the Labor Day disaster rigged the hearings to exonerate Roosevelt's officials. This is a major failing of what should have been a much more useful study of this event. The book also could have used a more comprehensive index and perhaps a "cast of characters" that would provide a convenient reference to the dozens of people mentioned, especially the myriad of bureaucrats. And, particularly for demonstrating the degree of miscalculation and faulty judgment involved in this disaster, a timeline of events also would have been welcomed.

Stories about natural disasters can be approached in essentially three ways: (1) Bravery/survival in the face of adversity, (2) Managerial competence and ineptitude in the face of adversity, and (3) A cautionary tale for the future. Drye does all three, succeeding fairly well on (1), stumbling somewhat on (2), succeeding commendably on (3). If you're a relatively new resident to South Florida (especially the Keys)or know someone who's planning to move there -- of if you think riding out the eye of a hurricane would be a "neat" experience -- this book, with all its flaws, is worth a read. One of the contemporary emergency management officials for the Florida Keys, quoted by Drye, hits it on the head regarding the next big Keys hurricane: "It's not if. It's when." Hurricane Andrew, another "rapidly intensifying" storm, devastated my home town of Homestead in 1992; had the eye made landfall twenty miles further north, it would have flattened Miami. Hurricanes are the price one pays for living along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and anyone contemplating residence and property ownership in those regions should know what happened on Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys on the evening of Sept. 2, 1935. This book is a good place to start learning how high that price can be. (...)

Storm of the Century - Killer in the Keys
In the summer of 1935, hundreds of World War 1 Veterans were in the Florida Keys to build the bridges linking the islands tot the mainland.

Many were curious and most unafraid when they heard a hurricane was coming. What was some wind and rain compared to bullets? Alas, the Labor Day Hurricane was perhaps the most powerful to ever assualt the U.S. mainland, moving across the Keys with 200-mph winds and a 20-foot storm surge.

More than 400 people died, including many of the veterans in their makeshift work camps. Drye's well researched narrative provides not only an hour by hour account of the storm track, but also chronicles the political fallout in it's aftermath.

Storm of the Century
I've lived through 5 hurricanes and in 4 of them the eye passed over my home. Reading this book made me feel I was in another only this time Ernest Hemingway was there as well. A great read for anyone who has been through a hurricane or wondered what one is like.

Kudos to Willie Drye
This book captures both the tremendous power of the hurricane and the terrible suffering of the people who were caught in it. It presents what I think is a fair explanation of the deaths of hundreds of American veterans of WWI and the circumstances that brought them to the Florida Keys during hurricane season. This little remembered chapter in American history should not be forgotten and Drye has done a service in bringing it back to light. It is a wonderful book that should affect everyone who reads it. I highly recommend it.

Good read, good history
What a great book. Drye takes the reader along on a fascinating tale of the most powerful hurricane to hit the mainland US and the political tempest that followed the actual storm. Effortlessly blending the story of the power and devastation of the hurricane, the personal stories of those who lived through the storm and political investigations and hearings that followed, Drye is able to keep the reader engaged throughout. Drye's analysis of the decision-making processes of the camp administrators, the role of the weather bureau and the actions of the Key's natives is thorough and thoughtful. Drye's vivid story telling brings life back to this mostly forgotten slice of national and natural history. ... Read more

Book Description

When Hurricane Camille roared out of the Gulf of Mexico on August 17, 1969, and slammed into Mississippi's scenic coastline, it left a wake of death and destruction unusual in North American history. Winds clocked at more than 200 miles per hour, a wall of water that approached 35 feet, and a barometric pressure of 26.84 inches combined to produce an American nightmare of broken businesses, broken homes, broken lives and broken dreams. The toll in human lives in Mississippi alone reached 172. The national toll of dead and missing reached 347 as Camille passed through portions of Tennessee and Kentucky, then sparked landslides and flash flooding in West Virginia and Virginia.This book focuses on Camille survivors in Mississippi -- what they were doing in the days and hours of that fateful August weekend before all hell broke loose, their harrowing ordeals during the storm, and their plight and actions in the aftermath. In many cases, they watched family and friends disappear in the dark, debris-filled waters as one of the most powerful storms in American history took its toll. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Reliving The Great Galveston Disaster
Galveston Island, Texas - A massive hurricane strikes the Island on a Saturday afternoon in September 1900. Paul Lester, along with an introduction by Richard Spillane, Editor "Galveston Tribune" and Associated Press Correspondent who survived the storm in Galveston, give eyewitness accounts of the death and destruction that surround this natural disaster. Written in 1900, immediately after the storm passes, and with the sensational overtones so prevalent of newspapers then, this book engrosses the reader and enables one to experience along with victims, their overpowering sufferance. Many lives were lost, many families torn apart, many children left orphaned. Paul Lester gives the thrilling accounts of heroism, and what life was really like immediately following such a life-altering event. It is amazing to read these stories, which take the reader back in time, when the Gulf Coast of Texas was a growing and thriving area of the South. The survivors must overcome their grief of losing loves ones, their shock of seeing such massive amounts of dead bodies everywhere, to clean up the remnants of a city that was completely destroyed in one night. Each chapter gives eyewitness accounts by many different Galvestonians, visitors and tourist that were there on that fateful Saturday. The stories by outsiders and various government agencies that had to overcome washed out wagon bridges, and railroad bridges to bring the island city much needed food, water, medical supplies, disinfectants and manpower. The tales of having thousands of bodies that were dumped at sea only to wash back up on the beaches the next day. The loss of everything these people owned and their survival is indeed thrilling and fascinating. The spirited stories and accounts of the destruction that tore through the state of Texas as told back in 1900 makes one shudder. There are old pictures that show the actual unbelievable devastation and ruin of this thriving island city. The gross and unimaginable stench of death, visions of total desolation and ruin are all described in this captivating book. ... Read more

Book Description

In September 1928, when great storms were still unnamed, nearly 700 black men, women, and children were buried in an unmarked West Palm Beach ditch following the nation's second-deadliest hurricane. The savage gusts that churned the waters of Lake Okeechobee into a maelstrom of death afflicted victims of all races and classes, and produced tales of survival and loss among whites and blacks alike. The vast majority of the post-storm workers were poor black migrants; even if the hurricane was color-blind, the recovery and rebuilding effort were not. Palm Beach Post hurricane reporter and Florida native Eliot Kleinberg has penned the gripping tale of the killer hurricane. The storm's journey is chronicled as it kills perhaps 7,000 people along its path from the Caribbean to Canada, including a low official tally of 1,836 in Florida alone. Detailing the storm's track, the failure to properly predict landfall, personal battles against nature's wrath, and the extraordinary suffering of a black citizenry forced to provide a disproportionate amount of rebuilding labor and endure the burial of friends and family in an unmarked pit, Kleinberg tells a powerful story of man versus nature and man versus man. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Poorly known tragedy...and portent
I agree with other reviewers that spoke highly of this work. This book is deeply moving in its portrayal of how a natural disaster combined with ineffective governmental precautions, human arrogance, and racial inequity to create an unmitigated human tragedy. The portrayal of people from all across the board is unfettered by political correctness as the author explores the range from poor black laborers buried in mass graves to a reactionary black interest group that tried to discredit the Red Cross, one of the few organizations relatively prepared for this emergency.

The events in this book are made all the more tragic when one realizes that humans have learned precious little from this type of disaster. As the earth warms, whether caused by man or not, the probablility of catastrophic hurricanes reaching our coasts may dramatically increase. And yet we build on coastal land until the water has nowhere to go and we remain haughty in the face of natural power. We also ignore human factors seen in the 1928 storm that linger on in Florida.

I highly recommend reading this book within the context of modern times and possiblilities. Or, try immersing yourself (if you can get past the numerous "typos" in the book) in the world of early Florida settlement. Either way, you will embark on a heart-wrenching experience that will long be remembered.

The Definitive Book
(...) Kleinberg has assembled pretty much the definitive history of this hurricane, in a book that is very compellingly readable, meticulously researched and, above all, extraordinarily well-organized. The cliche's that so abounded in "Isaac's Storm," the history of the Galveston hurricane, are here mercifully lacking. This hurricane changed the whole shape and future of South Florida, tested the state's mettle (which was found wanting in many ways) and more or less declared the future of the Everglades ecosystem, in that Lake Okeechobee would never again be allowed to become so unruly and deadly. A vast dike surrounds it today, abhorred by environmentalists, blessed by farmers and developers. The whole problem of water in South Florida, what to do with it, how to manage it, dates from this pivotal point, the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane.

Kleinberg has done an excellent job of tracking down sources, both living and speaking, as well as dead and existing only in ink or newsprint. He has put it all together with remarkable clarity and verve. This is a very lively book, breathing with human breath and gasping at the onslaught of almost unearthly winds. It is scrupulously researched and documented chapter and verse. One cannot but be pained to learn that some of the most precious original documents, the original issues of the Palm Beach Post and source material from the Lawrence Will archive in Belle Glade, have been stolen; but Kleinberg has managed to reconstruct their content skilfully.

Today we are almost overwhelmed with escapist disaster books, from Mount Everest to Krakatoa (my favorite, for sheer absurdity, concerns a New England molasses spill; you would think the world were ending!). Here's one that actually speaks, resonates and still has consequences in the present time. The multi-billion-dollar Everglades Restoration Project still has to deal with the consequences of this 1928 hurricane, the dubious gift of having TOO much water, and what to do if you want to farm or build a condominium on land that used to be submerged. It's a fascinating, well-written account, equally at home in a library or on a bedside reading table. Highly recommended. I give it four stars merely to avoid the imputation of sycophancy and escape the charge of counterfeit reviewing with which Amazon has been lately plagued.

Compelling account of devasting 1928 hurricane
Do you ever stop and shake your head at all of the apartment complexes, condominiums, beachfront homes and commercial enterprises that have sprung up all along the coastline? It would seem that many Americans are unaware of or have become indifferent to the danger posed by hurricanes. In "Black Cloud", Eliot Kleinberg describes the horrors of the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. An estimated 7000 people were killed in its wake. Kleinberg describes the unique set of circumstances in 1928 Florida that caused the overwhelming majority of the casualties to occur inland near Lake Okeechobee.
The author provides the fascinating history that led to the draining of the Everglades, and the ill-advised construction of a flimsy dike around Lake Okeechobee that contributed in a huge way to the incomprehensible loss of life that occured during this storm. As is true in a great many disasters, what occured here was the unfortunate combination of a great many circumstances. I found the book to be fairly well written and for the most part easy to follow. And as you might expect, race played a major role in how the situation was handled by both public officials and the population at large. If you are a history buff or are fascinated with natural disasters this is certainly a book you should consider. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A real twist
I really enjoyed reading this book with my class for information about tornadoes and hurricanes. The book presents many facts about these storms in a very kid friendly way. the format for the book is questions and answers. The book provides just enough information to keep it interesting for student readers. The pictures are not real, but are realistic. I like how the authors write a note in the beginning of the story inviting the reader to read their book. This book will be appealing for students in the upper elementary grades. It is a good beginning book for research. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

action-packed, riveting
My daughter started with the Tornado book in this series (Wild Weather), which she really liked, and so we got this one on Hurricanes. It's even better. The opening chapters about the hurricane pilot had her riveted, and this is the first chapter book she has gotten through completely in one sitting. My only beef was that the scientists are men in both books, but then I found the Flood and Lightning books, which both feature women scientists. We plan to get Blizzards next, since we live in blizzard country.

My son loved this book
My four year old has had me read Hurricanes to him again and again . Ms. Hopping presents scientific facts in such an engaging format that he really enjoys the story. I recommend this and her other Wild Weather stories.

This book is a winner for kids
Hurricanes, by Lorraine Hopping, Is the third book I have bought for my grandchildren in the Wild Weather series. They have looked forward to each new title and reread the ones they now have. The book helped them to understand what was going to happen with hurricane Floyd. ... Read more

Book Description

On October 8, 2001, the 120-foot luxury SCUBA dive yacht Wave Dancer and its sister ship, Aggressor III, were secured to a concrete dock in southern Belize when they were struck by Hurricane Iris. The small but deadly category four hurricane, with winds of 140 mph and storm surge of fourteen feet, ripped the Wave Dancer from its cleats, tossing it like a toy across the lagoon. When the storm subsided an hour later, twenty of the boat's twenty-eight occupants--most of them members of the Richmond Dive Club in Virginia--were dead.

The investigation of the Wave Dancer tragedy--the worst in the history of recreational diving--revealed that the boat's owner and captain had ignored storm warnings and needlessly endangered the lives of their passengers and crew.

Author Joe Burnworth and his wife, Linda, were passengers on the Aggressor III when the hurricane struck. Burnworth recounts the events leading up to the capsizing of the Wave Dancer, along with the rescue and recovery attempts and the accident's aftermath. ... Read more