Pete Has A Stormy Review for a Stormy Season

A Review of Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson 

My wife turned me on to Erik Larson’s books and now I can’t get enough. Isaac’s Storm is one of his earlier works but my favorite thus far. If you have any interest in weather or weather phenomena then this is the book for you.

The titular storm is the ferocious hurricane that crashed into Galveston, Texas in 1900. This was before hurricanes were named, and before the possibility of accurately forecasting such monster storms. Evacuation wasn’t a factor because you didn’t really know if the storm coming in was a harmless cloud burst or a wild cyclone.

The Isaac of Isaac’s Storm was a dedicated weather man in the early days of forecasting. But even he didn’t know what was coming other than being perplexed by the timing of incoming swells and the strange shifting winds. Yes, there was going to be a storm, and many of the town’s people reveled in the high waves crashing on the sand when often they broke at ankle level. But soon the water flooded the streets, and then the yards, then the first floor of homes, and then even the second. After that many of the homes either floated away or were pummeled to destruction by winds, waves, and debris. Galveston is an island, so if you were there, options were limited. You either floated (sometimes all the way out to sea and back on the roof of a home) or you sank. Over 6000 people died in the storm as humans were certainly no match for 150 mile an hour sustained winds. Isaac’s Storm will teach you lots about the weather, but you’d better keep an eye on the sky. Nature can sure be a bitch sometimes.