Mini Reviews | Natural Disasters

Much like my most recent post discussing books about man-made disasters, I think I am devouring books on natural disasters for some of the same reasons. We have to be hopeful, we have pray, and we have to do the things we are required to do in order to keep ourselves, our families, and our communities safe. 

 ⭐⭐⭐

This was a brief account of a devastating hurricane that struck the Cedar Keys at the end of the 19th century. I always find it interesting how natural disasters were watched and communities recovered from them long before technology came along that could help either process. In the time before hurricanes were given names, they were simply numbered, and Hurricane Number 4 did quite a number on Cedar Keys. The destruction crippled the island. Buildings and people were washed away with ease.

This is another factual account, written as such without a narrative style that many seem to prefer when reading non-fiction. The author uses many firsthand accounts to describe what happened to the people that early morning, and many photos as well. The book is fairly short, and I feel like this is because there is simply not as much information about this event than there are of those that came later, even by a few years. Still, it is a decent introduction into the disaster.
Recommended.

 ⭐⭐

This book started off really strong and I was impressed by the wealth of information that the author had access to. She weaves an incredible story of a town that expected rain and instead were confronted with a massive F5 tornado that claimed dozens of victims by the time it was over. The town of Rocksprings was small, less than one thousands people. Many had plans that evening to attend a show that evening at the school. Instead, their plans changed the moment hail began raining down on them, smashing windows and roofs. It took less than ten minutes to flatten nearly the entire town, kill nearly 80 people, and injure more than 150. What makes this all the more worse is that some of the victims were never found, and I can't imagine dealing with that kind of pain, knowing that you were not able to protect your loved ones, and had to live the rest of your life never knowing where they came to rest.

Those who were not injured sought to help immediately, however they could. There was a story of two men leaving town to get help. Due to the heavy rains, roads were very slick. They told how the car slid, ended up rolling twice before landing right side up again, and off they went to get helped for their community.

The author told the actual story of the tornado and its destruction so well, using so many sources - historical records, newspaper accounts, personal accounts - that is was deeply disappointing in the way the rest of the information was laid out. The story was told in chronological order, so naturally the most content was devoted to that date and the events that occurred then. Eventually the dated sections became brief statements of how people died, or other connected events as we moved further away from April 12th, 1927. The final section was the dedicated to each of the families impacted and conveyed so much of the same information already found elsewhere in the text. The only additional facts provided were what, if anything, was known about those families long after the tornado.

Recommended with caution, due to repetitive information in final section of book.