One of the most interesting books if you wish to learn more about Hurricanes is: Isaac's Storm; A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson. Why you ask well because it is about the History of the Galveston Hurricane, one of the worst Natural Disasters in the History of the United States, up there with the Great San Francisco Earthquake. Why was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 s o serious and deadly? Well it appears to be a combination of arrogance, lack of Hurricane knowledge and politics actually. Nevertheless many people died when the 15-foot plus storm surge wiped out the city. Many historians believe that the Hurricane packed a 150 mph winds although no one knows for sure, but it was a very high category storm either way. The book tells of Cuban and American meteorologist cooperation or rather lack of and the slow process of tracking Hurricanes and estimating where they might strike. The amount of Atlantic Tropical Hurricane Season discussion of many storms in many years is also highlighted through out the books. It is indeed a complete history of Hurricanes and early weather prediction. The books facts and research are well documented and foot noted with 273 references. Erik Larson, did a wonderful job of explaining what happened, what went wrong and what was learned after that horrific Hurricane. Consider all this in 2006. |
