From Library Journal
Florida's 1300-mile coastline is both a blessing and a curse; each summer it brings pleasure to millions of beach visitors but trepidation to insurance companies and disaster-preparedness officers. This fascinating and disturbing account of punishing encounters with hurricanes?which hit Florida more frequently than any other state?covers four and a half centuries of Florida history. Barnes (North Carolina's Hurricane History, Univ. of North Carolina, 1995) begins by explaining the meteorology of hurricanes, the development of tracking and forecasting, and the tradition of naming individual storms. The bulk of his narrative, however, details the history and impact of more than 100 major storms. Heavily illustrated, the book bears graphic witness to the havoc wreaked by winds topping 200 miles per hour and storm surges reaching 20 feet above sea level. John M. Williams and Iver W. Duedall's Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms (Univ. of Florida, 1997) is similar but considerably less detailed, while Roger A. Pielke Sr.'s Hurricanes: Their Natures and Impacts on Society (Wiley, 1997) is directed toward specialists. Essential for meteorology collections and all Florida libraries; recommended for scholars and general readers nationwide.?Kathleen Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Journal of Southern History
"An important book . . . helps to counter the ideology of hurricane denial rooted in the real estate boom of... the twentieth century."
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
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