Isaac's Storm

A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

By: Erik Larson

Narrated by: Richard Davidson

At the dawn of the 20th century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.

That August, a strange, prolonged heat wave gripped the nation and killed scores of people in New York and Chicago. Odd things seemed to happen everywhere: A plague of crickets engulfed Waco. The Bering Glacier began to shrink. Rain fell on Galveston with greater intensity than anyone could remember. Far away, in Africa, immense thunderstorms blossomed over the city of Dakar, and great currents of wind converged. A wave of atmospheric turbulence slipped from the coast of western Africa. Most such waves faded quickly. This one did not.

In Cuba, America's overconfidence was made all too obvious by the Weather Bureau's obsession with controlling hurricane forecasts, even though Cuba's indigenous weathermen had pioneered hurricane science. As the bureau's forecasters assured the nation that all was calm in the Caribbean, Cuba's own weathermen fretted about ominous signs in the sky. A curious stillness gripped Antigua. Only a few unlucky sea captains discovered that the storm had achieved an intensity no man alive had ever experienced.

In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky, until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. In Galveston alone at least 6,000 people, possibly as many as 10,000, would lose their lives, a number far greater than the combined death toll of the Johnstown Flood and 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

And Isaac Cline would experience his own unbearable loss.

Meticulously researched and vividly written, Isaac's Storm is based on Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time.

©2011 Erik Larson (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The best storm book I've read, consumed mostly in 24 hours; these pages filled me with dread. Days later, I am still glancing out the window nervously. A well-told story." (Daniel Hays, author of My Old Man and the Sea)

"Isaac's Storm so fully swept me away into another place, another time that I didn't want it to end. I braced myself from the monstrous winds, recoiled in shock at the sight of flailing children floating by, and shook my head at the hubris of our scientists who were so convinced that they had the weather all figured out. Erik Larson's writing is luminous, the story absolutely gripping. If there is one book to read as we enter a new millennium, it's Isaac's Storm, a tale that reminds us that there are forces at work out there well beyond our control, and maybe even well beyond our understanding." (Alex Kotlowitz, author of The Other Side of the River and There Are No Children Here)

"There is electricity in these pages, from the crackling wit and intelligence of the prose to the thrillingly described terrors of natural mayhem and unprecedented destruction. Though brimming with the subtleties of human nature, the nuances of history, and the poetry of landscapes, Isaac's Storm still might best be described as a sheer page turner." (Melissa Faye Greene, author of Praying for Sheetrock and The Temple Bombing)

Isaacs Storm

Very good. Informative and eye opening
I enjoyed this book as much as I have others by this author

The details of the story

I liked the intensity and suspense that me coming back to listen to the book

Too boring

Too much information made it cumbersome and at times boring. Usually love Erik Larson books but not this one!

A devastating storm and its aftermath

This was an interesting thesis on the men that studied and attempted to predict hurricanes in the early 20th Century. The approach of a storm in the Gulf of Mexico approaching Galveston, TX was tragically mis- forecast causing devastating loss of life and property. With today's modern forecasting tech, including weather satellites the tracts of storms can be more accurately predicted the numbers of those killed has been reduced, but not eliminated.

A Harrowing Tale

Larson’s ability to take you through the emotions and terrors experienced by his real-life characters is masterful. This book is an artful, moving work of non-fiction writing that is a must read.

Great book!

My Gr. Gr. Grandmother Mary Edmonds , who ran a boarding house on 18 th and K ave. died in this storm. Two of her sons tried to save her but had to let go of her body to save herself . Fortunately, there was a small notice written in a paper that described what happened that night with my GG grandmother and the other occupants of her house. Her body was found on Sept 13th on 20 th and O 1/2 street and a neighbor said they buried her in a crossing there and would keep anyone from disturbing her body. It took nearly 20 years for me to piece together what happened to her. I’m very interested in all the books that are written about the the great Galveston storm

Isaac’s Hubris Defended

Great backstory but, sheesh, Isaac’s arrogant lack of wherewithal in the face of mounting evidence and then disrespect to his brother’s efforts during the crisis made the narrative feel like it was an excuse or coverup for one man’s catastrophic hubris.I lost respect for the man in power at the time of the catastrophe despite the kid glove handling of the”protagonist”, but I gained respect and understanding for the power of nature and the importance of this historical event.

Well read and well written account.

The author makes it easy to follow history and important events in US tragedy. The narrator is easy to listen to.

Heartbreaking and cautionary

A study in the lethal confluence of hubris and willful ignorance. Six thousand people died, and survivors were changed forever. Compelling. scientific, and personal.

this book really shouldn't be

I've never read an Erik Larson book I didn't like. I still haven't but this one was far and away the thinest on story, uninteresting, and so on. It mightve been a great tragedy but there aren't enough first person accounts from the event to flesh out a real "book." Sadly to me the most interesting part was watching a few firsts in meteorology occur and watching some early weathermen eat crow pie. in terms of a quality story and especially compared to its peers, this book is a "hard pass."