The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Story of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900

The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Story of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900

by Al Roker
The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Story of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900

The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Story of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900

by Al Roker

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Overview

In this gripping narrative history, Al Roker from NBC’s Today and the Weather Channel vividly examines the deadliest natural disaster in American history—a haunting and inspiring tale of tragedy, heroism, and resilience that is full of lessons for today’s new age of extreme weather.

On the afternoon of September 8, 1900, two-hundred-mile-per-hour winds and fifteen-foot waves slammed into Galveston, the booming port city on Texas’s Gulf Coast. By dawn the next day, the city that hours earlier had stood as a symbol of America’s growth and expansion was now gone. Shattered, grief-stricken survivors emerged to witness a level of destruction never before seen: Eight thousand corpses littered the streets and were buried under the massive wreckage. Rushing water had lifted buildings from their foundations, smashing them into pieces, while wind gusts had upended steel girders and trestles, driving them through house walls and into sidewalks. No race or class was spared its wrath. In less than twenty-four hours, a single storm had destroyed a major American metropolis—and awakened a nation to the terrifying power of nature.

Blending an unforgettable cast of characters, accessible weather science, and deep historical research into a sweeping and dramatic narrative, The Storm of the Century brings this legendary hurricane and its aftermath into fresh focus. No other natural disaster has ever matched the havoc caused by the awesome mix of winds, rain, and flooding that devastated Galveston and shocked a young, optimistic nation on the cusp of modernity. Exploring the impact of the tragedy on a rising country’s confidence—the trauma of the loss and the determination of the response—Al Roker illuminates the United States’s character at the dawn of the “American Century,” while also underlining the fact that no matter how mighty they may become, all nations must respect the ferocious potential of our natural environment.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062364678
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 02/27/2024
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 323
Sales rank: 162,058
File size: 3 MB

About the Author

About The Author

Al Roker is cohost of NBC’s Today. He has received thirteen Emmy Awards, ten for his work on Today. He is the author of The Storm of the Century, an acclaimed history of the 1900 Galveston hurricane. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, ABC News and 20/20 correspondent Deborah Roberts, and has two daughters and a son.

Table of Contents

Underwater 1

Part I They All Had Plans

1 Looking Forward 7

2 The Storm: Africa 22

3 A Reasonable Argument 30

4 Storm Watcher 54

5 The Storm: From Cuba to Texas 82

Part II Maelstrom

6 Galveston: Thursday, September 6 111

7 Friday: The Waves 120

8 Saturday Morning: Storm Tide 132

9 Saturday Afternoon: "Half the City Underwater" 147

10 The Night of Horrors 163

Part III We White City on the Beach

11 Telegraph Silence 197

12 The Pile 211

13 "I Can Begin Life Again, as I Entered It" 235

14 "In Pity's Name, in America's Name" 250

15 No Tongue Can Tell 273

Acknowledgments 299

A Note on Further Reading 300

Bibliography 302

Index 305

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