Death Rides the Sky


Book Description

On an ordinary spring day in 1925, folks in the Midwest were going about business usual. Little did they know that between 1 and 4: 30 p.m. on March 18, their lives would be changed forever in an event that defined the weather in the central U.S.Nthe Tri-State Tornado.




The Tornado


Book Description

A guide to tornado formation and lifecycle also covers such topics as forecasting, wind speeds, tornado myths, tornado safety, risks, and records, along with accounts of the deadliest tornadoes in the United States.







The Tornado


Book Description

The Tornado gives account of one of the world’s most terrifying natural disasters. Twisters have left their wake of freakish consequences throughout the United States and the world, and The Tornado vividly describes some of the most bizarre from around the country—houseboats sailing through the air; cars flown to a landing half a cornfield away; an entire house lifted and demolished, leaving only a divan holding the uninjured family. The most detailed description of a tornado and the violence it can bring comes from the author’s focus on the tragedy of one American town in 1953. John Edward Weems was an eyewitness reporter of a funnel that hit Waco, Texas, on May 11 of that year. In gripping narrative, he portrays the events of that day: a man clinging to a guard rail while a mailbox, plate glass, bricks, and assorted debris whizzed past his head; automobiles rolling end on end down the street; buildings falling like blocks knocked down by an angry child; a movie theater crumbling on the terrified patrons. When the storm had passed, 114 people were dead and hundreds injured; property damage ran in the tens of millions of dollars. Research in news reports, government weather documents, and books flesh out this account, which Pulitzer-prize winner Annie Dillard called “wonderfully exciting. It is full of people, and the thousands of details that make up their lives—and deaths. [It is] a story of enormous power.” John Banta, writing in the Waco Tribune-Herald, described it as “a gripping story of human drama and tragedy.” Kirkus Reviews said, “. . . the events still chill face to face with a power that defies reason.” Royalties from the sale of The Tornado will benefit the book fund of the Waco-McLennan County Public Library.







Deadly Season


Book Description

In 2011, despite continued developments in forecasting, tracking, and warning technology, the United States was hit by the deadliest tornado season in decades. More than 1,200 tornadoes touched down, shattering communities and their safety nets and killing more than 500 people—a death toll unmatched since 1953. Drawing on the unique analysis described in their first book, Economic and Societal Impacts of Tornadoes, economists Kevin M. Simmons and Daniel Sutter here examine the factors that contributed to the outcomes of such tornadoes as the mid-April outbreak that devastated communities in North Carolina, the “Super Outbreak” across the southern and eastern United States in late April, and the single, mile-wide funnel that touched down in Joplin, Missouri, among others, in late May.




Economic and Societal Impacts of Tornadoes


Book Description

For almost a decade, economists Kevin M. Simmons and Daniel Sutter have been studying the economic effects and social consequences of the approximately 1,200 tornadoes that touch down across the United States annually. During this time, they have compiled information from sources such as NOAA and the U.S. Census Bureau to examine the casualties caused by tornadoes and to evaluate the National Weather Service (NWS)’s efforts to reduce these casualties. Their unique database has enabled this fascinating and game-changing study for meteorologists, social scientists, emergency managers, and everyone studying severe weather, policy, disaster management, or applied economics.




Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Lightning, Nature's Most Violent Storms: a Preparedness Guide, Including Tornado Safety Information for Schools


Book Description

This illustrated guide showcases some facts about weather-related events and suggests life-saving actions you can take, if you find yourself in an unexpected situation resulting from a weather-related event. The goal of this booklet is to present you with details on how to recognize severe weather, be aware of your surroundings, and to encourage you to develop a plan to be ready to act when threatening weather approaches. Here is a bird's eye-view of the weather-related events that are covered in this guide with a few short facts about each that are also presented in the guide. Lightning... ¦ Causes an average of 55-60 fatalities and 400 injuries each year ¦ Occurs with all thunderstorms ¦ Costs more than $1 billion in insured losses each year Tornadoes... ¦ Cause an average of 60-65 fatalities and 1,500 injuries each year ¦ Can produce wind speeds in excess of 200 mph ¦ Can be 1 mile wide and stay on the ground over 50 miles Straight-line Winds... ¦ Can exceed 125 mph ¦ Can cause destruction equal to a tornado ¦ Are extremely dangerous to aviation Flash Floods and Floods... ¦ Are the #1 cause of deaths associated with thunderstorms, more than 90 fatalities each year Hail... ¦ Can be larger than a softball (5 inches in diameter) ¦ Causes more than $1 billion in crop and property damage each year Some helpful tips included in this guide include how quickly these weather-events can result to a devastating situation. Therefore, it emphasizes that by having a plan in place prior to the event that is practiced from time to time, will allow response actions to be positive rather than stressful. This resource also provides guidance on the type of items that should be included in an Emergency Supply Kit for use at home, office, school, or place of business. There is also a special section dedicated to schools and working with children during an unexpected weather emergency. This school section also includes proper inspections and maintenance of buildings, and recommends emergency drills to practice the school safety plans with children including handling of disabled personnel and/or children.




Tornado God


Book Description

One of the earliest sources of humanity's religious impulse was severe weather, which ancient peoples attributed to the wrath of storm gods. Enlightenment thinkers derided such beliefs as superstition and predicted they would pass away as humans became more scientifically and theologically sophisticated. But in America, scientific and theological hubris came face-to-face with the tornado, nature's most violent windstorm. Striking the United States more than any other nation, tornadoes have consistently defied scientists' efforts to unlock their secrets. Meteorologists now acknowledge that even the most powerful computers will likely never be able to predict a tornado's precise path. Similarly, tornadoes have repeatedly brought Americans to the outer limits of theology, drawing them into the vortex of such mysteries as how to reconcile suffering with a loving God and whether there is underlying purpose or randomness in the universe. In this groundbreaking history, Peter Thuesen captures the harrowing drama of tornadoes, as clergy, theologians, meteorologists, and ordinary citizens struggle to make sense of these death-dealing tempests. He argues that, in the tornado, Americans experience something that is at once culturally peculiar (the indigenous storm of the national imagination) and religiously primal (the sense of awe before an unpredictable and mysterious power). He also shows that, in an era of climate change, the weather raises the issue of society's complicity in natural disasters. In the whirlwind, Americans confront the question of their own destiny-how much is self-determined and how much is beyond human understanding or control.




Falling to Earth


Book Description

A “poignant [and] powerful” novel about a 1920s Midwestern community in the aftermath of a devastating tornado (The New Yorker). In March 1925, the worst tornado in the nation’s history will descend without warning on the small town of Marah, Illinois. By nightfall, hundreds will be homeless and hundreds more will lie in the streets, dead or grievously injured. Only one man, Paul Graves, will still have everything he started the day with—his family, his home, and his business, all miraculously intact. This “absolutely gorgeous” novel follows Paul Graves and his young family in the year after the storm as they struggle to comprehend their own fate and that of their devastated town (The New York Times). They watch helplessly as Marah tries to resurrect itself from the ruins and as their friends and neighbors begin to wonder how one family, and only one, could be exempt from terrible misfortune. As the town begins to recover, the family miscalculates the growing resentment and hostility around them with tragic results, in an “extraordinarily moving” portrayal of survivor’s guilt and the frenzy of bereavement following a disaster (Financial Times). “All the big themes are here—chance, fate, loyalty, revenge, guilt, jealousy . . . Inspired by actual events surrounding the 1925 Tri-State tornado, the worst in U.S. history, Southwood’s poignantly penetrating examination of the psychic cost of survival is breathtaking in its depth of understanding.” —Booklist (starred review) “What’s most exciting about Southwood’s debut is her prose, which is reminiscent of Willa Cather’s in its ability to condense the large, ineffable melancholy of the plains into razor-sharp images.” —The Daily Beast