Customer Reviews

Isaac's Storm : A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

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3 star:		(23)
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1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've been a meteorologist for 20 years. Trained by Dr Bill Gray, I've walked in the eye of three hurricanes and flown in they eye of one. One recent book interest has been adventure stories including THE PERFECT STORM, INTO THIN AIR, ENDURANCE, etc. I had shyed away from ISSAC'S STORM because I couldn't imagine what Larson could tell me I didn't already know about the 1900 disaster at Galveston. I shouldn't have waited. Even the most seasoned weather geek will learn from this book. Like Carl Sagan, Larson has a knack for putting complex concepts in layman terms. I took away new simple descriptions of tropical meteorological concepts. However, that is not the genius of this book. Erik Larson did a wonderful job piecing together thousands of bits of information and crafting it all into a gripping read. What's missing? Photographs. Like SHIP OF GOLD IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA, this book is screaming for a companion book of photos. Eric said he waded through over 4,000; 250 of the best would make a super addition to this treatise. Rick Taylor, vorticity@aol.com

Are there other folks out there who enjoy reading true accounts of someone else's misfortune, especially if that misfortunate involves a titanic, unstoppable force of nature? A few, really good examples of this true-life disaster genre that I've read over the years are: "The Earth Shook - The Sky Burned" (San Francisco Earthquake)"; "The Coming Plague" (newly emerging diseases); "Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals" (doomed on Lake Superior, etc.); "Rats, Lice, and History" (a biography of typhus); and "Isaac's Storm" (the Galveston hurricane of 1900).

Erik Larson's book on the deadliest hurricane in history has two main focal points: the hurricane itself; and the human drama of Isaac Cline, the Galveston meteorologist who failed to predict the intensity of the storm. The book meanders through occasional dry stretches of Isaac's pre-storm biography, and through the history of the U.S. Weather Bureau (they were interesting, but not nearly as interesting as the storm), but once it focuses on the events of September 8, 1900 and beyond, I wasn't able to set "Isaac's Storm" down. Especially compelling are the eerie descriptions of what it's like to sail through the eye of a hurricane, and of course the narrative (from the viewpoints of several survivors) of what it was like to be in Galveston before, during, and after the storm. If you are afraid of storms or of water, you might not want to read this book because Erik Larson puts you right there when the storm debris is caving in the side of your house, or when the "tide suddenly rises fully four feet at one bound".

Larsen's book is a true account of not only the physical damage a severe hurricane can bring but also how human error (read: stubborness) can cause just as much damage. "Isaac's Storm" chronicles the Galveston hurricane of 1900. Larsen ably follows the path of the hurricane and the paths of the survivors and non-survivors. I enjoyed Larsen's description of the anatomy of a storm, tracing one from the west coast of Africa to possible destruction on the other side of the Atlantic. As I read, I feared the description would get too scientific to follow. Larsen gently leads through the stages of the storm and takes time to explain what is happening and why. Equally fascinating is the pride the people of 1900 exhibit. Consider: 1) A storm would never cross the Gulf of Mexico and strike Galveston. 2) The U.S. Weather Bureau was convinced that Cubans could not forecast a hurricane and caught off all weather warnings from Cuba. 3) Only Washington could declare the storm a "hurricane". The local forecaster (who was dealing with the wind, rain, etc.) could not. I found this book enjoyable, historical and a little chilling. I may have also learned a little more about all of us.

I went in to work sleepy-eyed quite a few mornings because I'm a slow reader and did not want to put this one down. It's a very clever combination of distilled eye-witness accounts, scientific and historical fact, memoirs and conjecture. I did not find the lack of photographs to be a problem, because the author portrays images wonderfully with words. The narrative builds gradually, like a good suspense novel; in the end, the horror of the event is very much evident in the narrative and the memories of those who survived the hurricane of 1900. The story has essentially the same fascination as that of the Titanic. Disaster occurred, and much of it could have been averted had human beings behaved differently. The difference is that this story has not been told repeatedly and does not focus on prominent citizens of the nation. Isaac's Storm, in the right hands, would make a terrific movie. In many ways, this books succeeds in taking the reader back to the year 1900. History at its best.

Overall this was an engaging account of a huge human disaster. The author manages to relate the failings and arrogance of the meteorologists who supposedly were responsible for tracking this storm. Their ability to allow their own sense of importance to overshadow scientific objectivity is unforgivable. The accounts of the human losses and acts of heroism are extremely moving; the description of workers finding the orphans buried in sand tied together with clothesline was particularly upsetting.

The book itself is well written but for my taste was rather thin on the science alongside the human story. In the earlier chapters, there are sections devoted to the storm itself, but these disappear as the account develops. Most surprising is the lack of inclusion of any photographs from the time. This, and the lack of a decent map, leaves the reader unable to fully comprehend the aftermath of the storm.

Author Erik Larson opened a door through which one clearly sees the seaside town that was Galveston, Texas, in the year 1900. For anyone who loves history, and is facinated by weather, this is a must-read. Can't understand why this isn't on the best seller lists yet. It's every bit as compelling as "The Perfect Storm". This particular hurricane took on a persona of its own. The descriptions of the approaching storm, and of the town, as the storm submerged it, are unforgettable. More intriguing even, are the explanations of how great storms develop -- often far from those shores upon which they eventually land. Could not put this book down!

I thought this was a very interesting and well-written book. For my own tastes, I would have preferred a little less about the office politics of the U.S. Weather Bureau and more about the mighty hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas in 1900. The book doesn't really take off until the monster makes landfall, and then the story gathers speed and interest very quickly. The author, Erik Larson, has a good eye for detail and a good clean way of writing about terribly moving a tragic moments: a child's rocking horse washed up along inland railroad tracks, corpse pyres in the aftermath creating illumination along the beach like "suns about to rise", and many other moments like these flash throughout the second half of the book.

The Galveston Hurricane was a watershed for the advancement of hurricane prediction, as it became an urgent matter to avoid the horrific death tolls such as this storm produced. One aspect of this book is a depiction of the U.S. Weather Bureau during the storm, and it is not a complimentary portrait. It is the author's view that the huge death tolls of this storm might have been avoided if the U.S. Weather Bureau had been willing to listen to the Cuban forecasters, which had predicted the advance of a large hurricane; that in fact, the US Bureau was stubborn and dismissive of the Cuban meteorologists. Yet, as the author writes, the Cubans seemed to call every puff of wind that crossed their island a "hurricane," so how could you take them seriously? I feel the author's need to find fault with the U.S. Bureau for the high death toll is simply an example of the very current need to place the blame, from the comfort of 20/20 hindsight, of every bad event on somebody.

After reading this book, it seems to me that no one, anywhere, had the technology in 1900 to predict or track hurricanes effectively, and the Cuban Bureau, by calling every storm a hurricane, got this one right (as they were bound to eventually). Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book a great deal, and would recommend it.

What a great story! This book just raced along full of facts and interesting detail about "a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history." I must admit that when this book was first released in Australia I wasn't overly interested. It didn't sound like something that would interest me in the slightest.

How wrong can you be, after picking the book up for the third or fourth time and actually taking the time to see what the story was about I had to read it. The author, Erik Larson, presents a gripping and terrible account of the events leading up to the destruction on Galveston on the 8th of September 1900 by one of the deadliest hurricanes in America's history. Along the way the Larson provides details of man's efforts to predict and control the weather and the often-disastrous results when we got it wrong!

The personal accounts offered in this book are often very touching and the human drama really gets you involved in the story. The narrative moves along like an action paced novel and you find yourself up in the early hours of the morning glued to the pages. I really didn't want this story to finish, it was a great account and the only fault I could find was a lack of photographs. On a number of occasions Larson refers to old black and white photographs that he had seen during his research for this book, it would have been nice to share these with his audience. Overall this is a great book and well worth the time to read.

When I heard this book was coming out, I was surprised that people didn't already know the tale of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900...the greatest 19th century disaster in the U.S.. However, this book surprised me by going into the early career of Isaac Cline, and his family. However, it seems to fault Cline with a lack of understanding. If he had known anything about the storms of 1886 and 1875, it wouldn't have mattered. His boss had him strong-armed... nothing more could have been done. A good thing this doesn't happen in the National Weather Service anymore.

The story was told well, but it's been told many times before. It lacked maps, charts, and pictures from the time - trust me, there are many pictures, map, etcetera from the 1900 hurricane around, whether they be in Galveston or elsewhere. In fact, Thomas Edison took his first moving film footage from the aftermath of this storm. If the author had even visited the Library of Congress or National Archives, he would have done a better job.

Otherwise, the prose does a good job of balancing the meteorology of the situation with the everyday life of an emerging large city. The personal stories are a nice touch. This story could have been a tough read if it were all weather.

If you want to catch up on Isaac Cline, read Rising Tide, by John Barry. If he had any fault in the 1900 disaster, it was more than erased by his future actions, including those during the Mississippi River Crevasse of 1927. He also preformed bravely during the 1915 hurricane as well.

It is hard to explain the shear power of water and wind unless you have experienced it. This book is amazing with the descriptions, both scientific and emotional, of the human event of attempting to survive the storm. What is truly powerful is the heartache that was not written into the book. It didn't need to be. There are moments in the book where nothing is written and you are left to think. Those are the moments you look up from the book, stare out into the space in front of you, and you wonder if you would have done the same thing. I found my heart at a lost. I felt the grief. The book didn't describe it, but led you to it. What dumbfounded myself when I finished the book was that I chose to read it for purely scientific reasons and I found I read a real human drama. An excellent piece of work that will reach the hearts of all who read it.