Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "weather"

A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes by Eric Jay Dolin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What is a hurricane? A picture immediately forms in your mind, especially if you’ve experienced even just the peripheral fury of such a storm. Moist, warm air. Swirling, violent wind. Torrential downpours. Colossal waves. Swells of flood water. A tranquil eye that belies even greater devastation as the storm passes over. Yet, as with many questions, there is no simple answer, and the power of even just an average hurricane unleashes the same energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs. Within the pages of A Furious Sky, Dolin not only tackles the answer to this question, but also discusses the evolution of these storms and our ability to monitor and forecast them. At the same time, he takes us on a gut-wrenching journey through five centuries of history to experience hurricanes that have struck America and to meet individuals who experienced the devastating wrath of Mother Nature.

Dolin focuses on three aspects of hurricanes in this book: the storm as it approaches and makes landfall, its impact on individuals and places, and the response of people and government immediately after it passes. The story opens on 26 June 1957, just before Audrey came ashore in Louisiana. Her sustained winds were 145 miles an hour. She brought with her a storm surge of twelve feet and waves as high as fifteen feet. She took the lives of about 500 people, left 5,000 others homeless, and tore apart almost every building in Cameron Parish, resulting in losses of between $150,000,000 and $200,000,000. To create a more poignant account than just a recitation of facts, Dolin introduces us to specific people whose lives are forever changed. In this case, Dr. Cecil and Sybil Clark. By doing so, we experience viscerally their harrowing ordeal and the tragic events that unfold.

While this is not a comprehensive account of every hurricane to strike America, Dolin does a commendable job choosing those of particular interest to many of us. The earliest storms have neither names nor scale ratings, but they are significant nonetheless. Among these are the 1609 hurricane that is believed to have been the inspiration for William Shakespeare’s The Tempest; the dire experience of two men during the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635, one whose family would play leading roles in New England religion and politics; and the hurricane that destroyed Spain’s Treasure Fleet of 1715, which influenced piratical history during what has become known as the golden age of piracy. Among the many other hurricanes explored in this book are the Galveston Hurricane of 1900; the Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935; Hugo; Isabel; Carol, Edna, Hazel, and Connie – the first storms to have their names retired; Camille; Andrew; Iniki; Katrina; Sandy; and from the “season that wouldn’t quit,” Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

A New and Violent World; The Law of Storms; Seeing into the Future; Obliterated; Death and Destruction in the Sunshine State; The Great Hurricane of 1938; Into, Over, and Under the Maelstrom; A Rogues’ Gallery; and Stormy Weather Ahead – these are the chapters that enlighten and inform us about the storms themselves, the history of weather forecasting, and scientific discoveries and technology associated with hurricanes. Dolin incorporates a plethora of firsthand quotations throughout the narrative, as well as peppering it with illustrations related to specific hurricanes, such as before and after a storm passed over a particular place. There is also a center section of color artwork, charts, photographs, and satellite images. In addition to a section of notes at the end of the book, which provide citations and additional information, he also provides footnotes throughout the book to explain important details at the bottom of some pages. The appendix consists of two tables that rank the costliest hurricanes. There are also a select bibliography and an index.

A Furious Sky is a spellbinding look at the history of hurricanes that have struck America. What makes this an even more vital addition to the study of hurricanes is that Dolin doesn’t examine each storm in a void. Instead, he shows the profound impact each has had on people and places, as well as how they have shaped our country. This journey encompasses hurricanes from Christopher Columbus’s voyages of discovery to Maria’s decimation of Puerto Rico. He presents scientific concepts in easy-to-understand language that keeps us just as interested as the visceral survivors’ accounts. He introduces us to unlikely heroes – some well-known, like Dan Rather whose coverage of one storm to hit Texas forever changed the way hurricanes are reported in the media; others forgotten, like Father Benito Viñes, a Jesuit who helped save many people in the 1800s because of his fascination with these storms. Dolin’s masterful storytelling intertwines weather, history, politics, invention, and technology in a way that leaves us with a “you are there” feeling. It is an experience not to be missed and not soon forgotten.




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