Thumbnail review: An easy and interesting read, published in 2000
Never been disappointed by an Erik Larson book, though some are more involving than others. So, when I encountered Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, it was a must-read.
In light of the increasing severity of hurricanes boiling over the heated Gulf of Mexico, the history of the storm that destroyed Galveston TX in 1900 is captivating. 6,000 – 12,000 people died – the largest natural disaster in U.S. history. No one really knows what happened to people as the city was blown apart and most of the dead swept out to the Gulf. Built directly on the Gulf of Mexico Galveston was the central shipping terminal for goods entering and leaving Texas. Following the storm, the port was never rebuilt and Houston, shielded by rivers and bays because the main terminus for Texas shipping.
Isaac’s Storm is the story of the development of the U.S. Weather Bureau. It did not really exist in 1900 – at least as we know it today. It was an office of the Department of Agriculture that recorded temperatures and events after they occurred. Reporting was spotty and mostly used to influence the prices on the Chicago commodities exchanges. Appointments were political, there being few trained scientists. Isaac Cline had meteorological training from the U.S. Signal Corps but had to learn about the Gulf, the southwest, and hurricanes on the job.
The long-held belief at the time was that severe hurricanes could not make it past Cuba into the western reaches of the Gulf of Mexico. Cline strongly supported this position. Hurricanes hit Cuba and/or the Dominican Republic, veered north, passing over Louisiana and Mississippi and back east. This is the path of Hurricane Ina that devastated Louisiana and then the Northeast in August 2021. When Galveston residents in 1900 learned of a large storm approaching, they thought no more of it. Tragically, Cline lost his wife and home. Miraculously, his three daughters survived. He went on to a long career as head of the regional U.S. Weather Service in New Orleans.
Publisher: Penguin Random House; 1st edition (July 11, 2000) 323 pages