Overconfidence In Isaac's Storm

As I was reading the sample essay "The Storm We Couldn't Escape" I noticed that he used four out of the five senses, such as sight, sound, smell, and touch. For instance, the author used the sense of sight in great detail to describe the setting. The author mentioned how the dark gray storm clouds swallowed up the sun, how it started to rain as it grew more intense, the power going out leaving them with no electricity, the funnel cloud ripping through the field as it tore up the ground, and the cellar doors that were bound with a thick metal chain wrapped around the handles. The author then used the sense of sound. The author mentioned how the rain sounded as if someone was beating on his home with a couple of gigantic drumsticks, how the pounding

The 1900 Hurricane in Galveston destroyed a majority of the towns infrastructure and killed a significant amount of the population. One of the main reasons behind the level of devastation was do to the fact that the city was not at all prepared to face a storm as large as the one that hit in 1900, the city had a very low elevation with its highest point being only 9 feet above the sea level, and had very little if any means of protection from Hurricanes(1.). By 1900 Galveston had already been hit with several destructive storms in the past but they were not severe enough for the citizens of Galveston to start making more efforts to curb the potential damage a larger storm could have in the future and thus do to something on a

Meanwhile tornadoes are dramatically different from hurricanes. Hurricanes form over vast stretches of water, and the warmer the water the more the potentially deadly the hurricane will be. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 ""¦was responsible for at least 8000 deaths" (Blake, et al, 2011). Hurricanes develop in tropical oceans and move westward in the direction of the southern and eastern United States. Tornadoes also affected by the jet stream form over land, not over water, and although they can be up to a mile wide, they are generally a quarter of a mile wide. Hurricanes are sometimes several hundred miles wide which makes them a far

Isaac’s Storm, is a tale of self- confidence. This Hurricane in 1900 in Galveston was the worst and deadliest hurricane this country has ever seen. About 6,000 people lost their lives and among those who died was Isaac Cline’s wife. I can tell how guilty he must have felt and how horrific this time was for Cline, especially because he thought a massive storm could never devastate his amazing city. The horrific events of what happened in Galveston is only partially told in this book. Erik Larson’s use of Cline’s own letters and reports show Cline’s own self confidence or pride and falsifies facts that Cline was the hero he believed himself to be after the Storm surfaced. Isaac's Storm clearly shows what can happen when human arrogance takes priority over anything else.

The Forty’s begins with so much rain, the state records 40 inches or more making it the wettest across the state. Six hurricanes are recorded in the 1940’s. September 23rd, 1941 a hurricane hit at Matagorda Bay, traveled through Houston taking four lives and causing six million dollars in damages. The early warnings is what helped save many lives. August 30, 1942 one skirted the coast with 100 mile an hour winds which traveled up to the Edwards Plateau causing 26 million dollars in crop damage. We aren’t done yet, a tropical storm came ashore the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Bay leaving behind One million dollars in damages. The year 1943 has more destruction from a hurricane on July 27th. As it moved across the Bolivar Peninsula with wind gusts at 104 mph, it dropped 17.8 inches of rain in a 24 hour period recorded at Port Arthur and leaving 16 million

Understanding the psychological impact of this hurricane has taken place on some minor level of research, but the long lasting implications and effects are still under review. The mental health arena are still trying to get a grasp of the long term effects of the hurricane and more specifically what are the PSTD outcomes are for the inhabitants of these

“The hurricane” portrays destruction to prove the main message of the story in which objects can easily be taken away. Tea Cake and Janie were sitting in their house waiting for the storm to approach: “The wind came back with triple fury and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes were watching god” (Hurston 160). As illustrated, the light is easily taken, with no stutter in being blown out. Eventually, they had no light to see only left with the blinding darkness. Nevertheless, the light was destroyed by the hurricane. During the hurricane in the Everglades things were flying everywhere, houses, personal belongings, “six eyes were questioning god. Through screaming wind they heard things crashing and thinks hurtling and dashing with unbelievable velocity” (Hurston 159). Leaving people with no light, leads people to question God. After all, they were not sure

“Human bodies bobbed facedown in the water, bumping against the boat” (“Anderson vii”). By September 7, 1900, Galveston was the 4th largest city in Texas (“Galveston”). It was a growing and flourishing port city of 37,000 (resources); and one of the wealthiest cities in the country (“Galveston”). On September 8, 1900 a powerful hurricane slammed into Galveston (“Galveston”). Its’ highest wind speed recorded before the anemometer blew away was 100 mph, but the speeds were estimated as high as 135 mph (“Galveston”). Over 3,600 buildings were destroyed in the hurricane causing 30,000 people to be homeless (“Galveston”). A 15-foot storm surge engulfed the entire island leaving the highest point of the island just over 8 feet above sea level (“Galveston”). Evacuation was almost impossible (“Galveston”). At first their estimation of

    The society of Galveston suffered greatly after the hurricane in both good and bad ways. The people of Galveston lost almost everything they had; everything was nearly ruined. As stated by Ida Smith Austin, Mov. 6, 1900, during the storm planks and debris were thrown around in the air and water flooded homes. Many survivors of the storm lost almost everything they had, this formed

Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive hurricanes to whirl through the southern states of America in 2005, is probably one of the worst natural disasters of the United States in the 21st century. Damages from the storm were estimated at more than $100 billion . People living in the southern states fled north to reach safety from the storm after hearing about it being a category five hurricane on the news a few mornings before Katrina hit the shore. Authorities were doing what they were supposed to be doing, telling everyone to seek shelter, board up windows, head north and prepare for the storm. Everything in the beginning appeared to be just another

At the headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, located in the lower 9th ward, the soldiers were not yet aware that the canal levees were giving way. The Guard’s commander

Hurricanes are formed over tropical waters. These intense storms consist of winds over 74 miles per hour (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011). The storms addressed here are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. This paper will explore the contrasts and comparisons between these two horrific storms.

THESIS STATEMENT: One of nature’s most powerful and destructive storms are hurricanes. Although they can be deadly to humans and animals and have been known to cause extensive destruction, they also play a very important and beneficial role on Earth.

Did you know that Hurricanes have killed approximately 1.9 million people worldwide over the past 200 years. (Karen lenhardt said in her 2017 article on facts about hurricanes). We are seeing more and more of these occur, this year we have already encountered 13 named storms, 7 of them being hurricanes. Only four other seasons since 1995 have had that many by Sept. 18. Just two more by the end of the year would put 2017 in the top 15 since 1851. Maggie Astor stated in her New York Times news report about the 2017 Hurricane season . We must take notice and learn about the hurricane process so that we are able to understand the stages that hurricanes go through to get to be so fierce and devastating to get the strength to kill that many people.

The first mistake the Jacksonville’s weather bureau made was to call all extra relief workers and coast guards from New York and New England down to Florida to prepare for the storm. While looking out and protecting Florida, they took many needed hands from the northeast, which was hit harder. Their second mistake, a more important one, was to assume this storm was another typical Cape Verde hurricane because it began to veer northward. Those storms were known to curve away from the tropics at first opportunity and head north for colder water where it would soon die off before hitting the US. It followed this specific course by the Bermuda High currents, “a mass of dense dry air that dominates the weather in the North