Book Review: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson

Erik Larson gives a riveting account of meteorologist Isaac Cline's life through the lens of the 1900 storm that nearly wiped Galveston, Texas, off the map. Meteorology is the big focus, especially on hurricane detection and survival. Larson gets into the history of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean going all the way back to Christopher Columbus. He gives a brief history of the barometer, a key tool for weather data collection and analysis. Larson comes back to Cline as he describes the nascent National Weather Service, from its training to its maneuverings in Washington's governmental bureaucracy. Cline was a star student and a bit full of himself, a reflection of the larger culture.

The late 1800s saw a flourishing of scientific endeavors and optimism. Many weather scientists were looking for "The Law of Storms," a way to predict hurricanes and other foul weather so as to prepare for their impact and avoid catastrophic losses. Knowledge gives power, or so the thinking went, which implied control or mastery, which isn't necessarily so. The hubris of the age led to the tragedy of Galveston, with six to ten thousand deaths and massive amounts of destruction on Galveston Island and mainland Texas. An interesting conflict was in Cuba, where the National Weather Service representatives felt they were in competition with a local observatory that was "less scientific" but more accurate (though often more bombastic) in forecasting storms. The NWS people used their government connections to cut off the locals' access to telegraph services, leaving the United States with only the NWS predictions. When the fateful storm came through Cuba, the NWS predicted that it would turn north and east toward Florida--that's the official story that went out. The locals predicted that it would go north and west toward Texas--but they could not tell the mainland. Galveston couldn't avoid the storm but they certainly could have been warned earlier.

Larson gives a lot of detail of Galveston, how the people were used to storms coming in and it was a booming town in competition with Houston for greatness. The people had a lot of pride and some ambition, so even if they got the warning maybe they would not have left in time. A lot of people (including Isaac Cline) thought their houses were safe enough to weather any storm. Cline's house was shorn off the island, leaving him and his family adrift as the hurricane raged on Saturday night, September 8, 1900. The details of the destruction and loss of life are heart-rending and vividly described. The horrible aftermath has less detail but wraps up the story. Cline was moved by NWS to New Orleans, which he saw negatively. A lot of the difficult people in the Weather Service were sent there, making it hard to manage and a virtual dead end for his career.

I found the writing uneven. Larson writes beautiful text and it is very evocative. But the theme of scientific hubris, the main focus of the first third of the book, mostly drops out in the last two-thirds as the storm hits. Plenty of action and drama takes over the narrative. Larson took a little more license than I was comfortable with as he describes the inner feelings and mindsets of the people. Big chunks read more like dramatic recreations than objective narratives of what actually happened. The historic records aren't as detailed as they are nowadays, especially with Isaac losing all his letters and writings with his house.

Mildly recommended.