No Such Thing As A Perfect Storm

Imagine if Hurricane Ike had hit Galveston with NO warning and no safety measures in place to protect you? The tragic aftermath of such a scenario, which actually took place in Galveston in 1900, is the subject of "Hurricane," by Janice Thompson. After living through our recent storm, I was curious about its more famous predecessor, which still carries the unenviable title, "Most Catastrophic Natural Disaster in U.S. History," having taken over 6000 lives and virtually laid barren the gulf island. This book probably wouldn't be my first choice if I wanted to know more about this storm but it sort of fell into my hands while shelving and I took an hour this morning to read it. The story is mostly from the viewpoints of fictional characters, culled from actual individuals or collective memories of several people. The event itself is not described as horrifically as in "Isaac's Storm," by Erik Larson but is a more emotional memoir of the aftermath and reconstruction of the city of Galveston. The author, largely known for Christian fiction, writes a version of hope and faith, which I'm not sure survivors of such a monster from nature would be feeling after their city was decimated. While I'm impressed by the resiliency of Galveston residents after Ike, I haven't heard too many Ike survivors regaling the wonder of nature in spite of adversity. And this, with the technological advantages of Super Doppler radar. But life was different a hundred years ago and perhaps optimism was easier to come by. After all, they had the post-storm comfort of Clara Barton....we got Geraldo Rivera.