Book Review

Sallenger, Abby. 2009. Island in a storm: a rising sea, a vanishing coast, and a nineteenth-century disaster that warns of a warmer world. New York, NY: PublicAffairs.

 

 

In Island in a Storm , Abby Salenger historically recounts the massive hurricane that hit the New Orleans area in the 1855. She uses historical documents, personal journals, personal interviews and other books in order to paint a very lifelike and exciting image otherwise impossible. You can tell a lot of research went into writing this book and that reflects the quality of the story itself. Salenger makes us feel like we are right there with the victims even though neither he nor us were alive at the time.

 

                 This book provides is written in a third person narrative and combines a storytelling aspect with overall scientific commentary which leads to it being far more valuable as a book of study for this course. The best part about this book is how the author weaves in scientific information and knowledge into the story. She tells about early weather forecasting and the processes that it involved. For instance she explained how the first national weather system was developed when people from stations across the United States would telegram in the weather to a headquarters in D.C. Then she also explains how people best forecasted weather events based on prior knowledge and the signs leading up to each event. The issue is when the forecasters had no prior knowledge of an event, or limited knowledge , and this is what the whole book covers.

 

                The story’s setting follows wealthy antebellum era plantation owners and multiple ship captains, along with multiple other brief side stories. Chapter one sets the stage in Louisiana by describing what was then the most devastating event was upon the city; yellow fever. This chapter follows a doctor through the mystery of a civilians death, he eventually figures it out yellow fever was the culprit. Chapters two and three bring us to our main characters, the Mille family who were a wealthy family who made their money growing sugarcane. This chapter discusses the agricultural and social climate of the area during this time. We also find out that the Mille family vacations on a resort island a few miles offshore called Isle Derniere, where they and other wealthy families congregate to escape the heat and yellow fever in New Orleans. Chapter four and five are great chapters that discuss the early forms of weather forecasting. These chapters are fascinating and follow a few prominent antebellum era climatologists and their arguments about how to best forecast and study weather. Chapters six and seven are about the approaching storm. Salenger describes how the storm formed far out in the ocean and then approached the continental U.S., and the multiple ‘warning signs’ that the people on the island were experiencing; but had no way to know what was coming. Chapters eight through fourteen are told in short, fast paced story blurbs that recount the actual event of the hurricane arriving on the island resort. The story is told from eyewitness accounts the author has uncovered from past interviews and personal journals, which the author then uses to create a very vivid and emotional image. Chapters fifteen and sixteen explain how survivors were able to escape with their lives by clutching to driftwood and debris from the island resort. The prologue wraps the book up and makes a few critical comments on the events that transpired, as well as what the people of today should take away from a story like this.
 

                Overall this book did a good job of setting the stage for the reader to learn more about a few things; Hurricanes and their formation, historical social ‘climate’ of the antebellum era, weather forecasting and the advances it has made and the ideas it stems from, and finally what we have learned as humanity about the environment around us. Even though events like Katrina or Sandy leave massive destruction in their wake, we have adapted as a society in many ways since the books setting, and quick comparisons that readers can make illustrate these beautifully.

 

                If you like history, read it. If you like weather, read it. If you enjoy a fast paced recount of historical events, read it. This book is worth read and can be completed in a single day with a hot beverage by your side. Great book, and a great supplement to this Envrionmental Hazards course.