Storm Warning: The Story of a Killer Tornado
List Price: $14.00 Our Price: $11.20 You Save: $2.80 (20%) Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
Product Description
May 3, 1999, is a day that Oklahomans will never forget. By the time the sun set over a ravaged plain, some 71 tornadoes had claimed around 11,000 homes and businesses and caused $1 billion in damage. One of them was a mile-wide monster of incredible power, the fiercest F5 twister to hit a metropolitan area, and whose 300 mph winds were the fastest ever recorded.Veteran journalist Nancy Mathis draws on many interviews to weave the story of those few terrifying hours that irrevocably changed the lives of many Oklahomans. Storm Warning features Kara Wiese, who fought to save her son from the fatal winds; and Charlie Cusack, who followed the tornado's progress on television until it came knocking on his front door. Amazingly, only thirty-eight people perished at the hands of the Oklahoma F5. Many lives were saved by the efforts of professionals such as Ted Fujita, the creator of the Fujita Scale and dubbed "Mr. Tornado" for his relentless pursuit to unravel a twister's mysteries; the oft-criticized but dogged government meteorologists; and Gary England, a resourceful TV weatherman whose tireless efforts prepared hundreds of people in the tornado's path. Storm Warning alternates between personal stories and the history of the struggle to understand this bewildering force of Mother Nature, creating a nail-biting, captivating look at surviving the fury from the skies.
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
Fantastically Researched
|
Comment:
Don't start this book unless you have time to finish it in one sitting. I never expected it to be such a good read, so engrossing and emotional. Because I was only a few miles from part of the May 3rd tornado and have a friend who lost a twin brother in the Woodward tornado I expected to find the typical stories of the death and destruction of those storms contained in one book. How surprised and delighted I was that after a short time of deep attention I learned more than I knew was even out there. I've lived in Oklahoma all my life and have seen the weird destruction within my own hometown (the roof blown off my dad's office with one picture on his desk gone and the other still setting there undisturbed!) Those of us living in "tornado alley" are not terrified by tornadoes but have a healthy respect for them because we know if we pay attention that we can save ourselves. Our kids know how to protect themselves before they even start school. Gary England (who's like kinfolk) always speaks directly to the youngsters, instructing them on what to do if they happen to be alone. We suffer extreme property loss but because of the work of the people depicted in this book the loss of life is minimal. We have family living in other parts of the country and realize how blessed we are here to have the weather forecasting that we do. We know within blocks of where the tornado, or even thunderstorms, will hit as well as when. Now I know the nuts and bolts behind this fantastic gift we have where we need it the most. Thanks to Nancy Mathis who did such deep research in every area of this story and brought it together with her great writing talent. If there's one criticism is that there's a lot of technical material that I found hard to understand but my husband loved it! This is a good book and I'm buying several to pass around to family and friends!
|
Summary:
Fantastic book
|
Comment:
A compellingly detailed narrative that's concisely written and superbly researched. Gives you just enough science and history to make sense of the events, but focuses on the human cost of this extraordinary storm.
|
Summary:
Great book on tornadoes
|
Comment:
I thought the book Storm Warning by Nancy Mathis was outstanding. Besides explaining a lot about the history of tornadoes there is a book background on the late Japanese tornado expert Ted Fujita.
|
Summary:
An Extraordinary Book about an Extraordinary Event
|
Comment:
The May 3, 1999 tornado stunned central Oklahoma--but yet, it was not entirely unusual. As I grew up in Norman, Oklahoma (the center of weather research and now home to the National Weather Service), tornadoes were a fact of life. Springtimes in Oklahoma always included the hours spent in front of the television, watching the supercells. Even the non-scientific minds among us learn to grasp the basics of supercells, of the hook echo, of the wall cloud. We are willing to watch the storm on TV until it is within 10 miles of us, and then, and only if it is heading in our direction, will we descend to our storm cellar.
Nancy Mathis has captured the feeling of the springtime in Oklahoma; the awe, the fear, and the respect with which tornadoes are regarded. The book weaves together many stories of common people from this area, people just like any other central Oklahoman. And she compellingly tells the story of how lives are shattered, molded--simply changed by the power of the tornadoes.
The May 3 tornado (the big one--A9) passed within 15 miles of my house; I had been playing golf that afternoon on a course in Moore that was destroyed--in fact, had we played the back 9, we would have been on the course when the twister hit. But the sky looked ominous, with the clouds at different elevations moving different directions--signaling significant wind shear, a factor in tornado formation that Mathis discusses in this book. It was simple stories like this that Mathis used to create the feel of the book.
Mathis captures the history of tornado forecasting and the personalities involved wonderfully. She tells the story of the meteorologists excellently. I believe this book to be the best available at telling the story of the tornado in totality and of the people it impacts. I have just a few quibbles with this book--the occasional instances of strong language (always in quotes) require editing before youngsters can read it. The book is not particularly scientific, and there are no photos or charts explaining the science. That is not the intent of this book. The story is so gripping (and graphic), that some children could have difficulty stomaching it. But this gripping retelling is what makes the book so good--for the story of the tornadoes is so extraordinarily exciting, and the springtime afternoons in Oklahoma so spellbinding, that only a book written in that way can accurately tell the story of the May 3 tornadoes.
|
Summary:
Great information with very human aspect
|
Comment:
I have been hesitant about writing a review for this book because I am very clearly biased. I felt very honored that Nancy Mathis chose to include my daughter in the book. I got to participate in the portion of the book that discussed the people involved in the storm. Those parts were emotional for me to read. I got to see a tiny portion of the research that went into the book and after reading the book, I realize that there was a tremendous amount of research done for the book. I learned a great deal about the history and science of weather forecasting. I also learned about home construction. I don't think I have ever read a book quite like this one.
|
|