Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms - Softcover

Patricia Lauber

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0618062572 ISBN 13: 9780618062577

Publisher: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN, 2000

Synopsis

Tells how hurricanes form, how scientists study them, and how they have affected the United States throughout this century.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

A glossy book about monster storms, past and yet to be. Lauber (How Dinosaurs Came to Be, p. 553, etc.) begins with a description of the spectacular hurricane of 1938 that slammed into Long Island, bringing with it a wall of water 40 feet high that lifted entire houses off their foundations before moving on to Rhode Island where it swamped downtown Providence. With that attention-grabbing start, accompanied by many black-and-white historic photos that emphasize the devastation, Lauber steps back for an explanation of how hurricanes are formed, studied, and named. She recounts efforts to track, predict, and alter hurricanes, and then discusses more recent storms, including Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki in 1992. The full-color photos in this section show acres of palm trees flattened, buildings stripped of their walls, and a town turned to rubble. Noting that 1995, one of the busiest hurricane years of this century, may mark the beginning of a ``heavy'' cycle, Lauber discusses the implications for the more than 44 million Americans who live along the coastline and for fragile environments, such as the Florida Everglades. The book is thoroughly up-to-date, and, like its subject, quite powerful. (full-color photos, maps, diagrams, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

Gr. 4^-8. Accounts of natural disasters make thrilling stories. Like her Newbery Honor Book Volcano (1986), Lauber's full-color photo-essay combines the human drama with scientific information. Here her subject is the great whirling storms that roar out of the ocean: what makes them, how to track them, and what destruction they cause. She begins with a detailed account of one disaster that came as a terrifying surprise: the 1938 monster hurricane that ravaged Long Island and New England. Then she discusses the physics of storms and the modern development of sophisticated instruments, including weather satellites and powerful computers that can help predict the path and the strength of storms. She focuses on recent big storms, especially Hurricane Andrew in 1989, detailing the damage to human areas and also to plants and wildlife. The simple, dramatic prose communicates the rising tension and the terrifying facts ("whole houses were lifted off their foundations and smashed to pieces . . ."). Browsers will start with the clearly captioned photos of pounding seas, wrecked neighborhoods, and flattened trees. The spacious book design, with large type, thick paper, wide margins, and clear maps and diagrams, will keep them reading. Hazel Rochman

About this edition

• Publisher: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0618062572
• ISBN 13: 9780618062577
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64