Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, a Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World

Posted on by Abby Sallenger
Island in a Storm A Rising Sea a Vanishing Coast and a Nineteenth Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World F ast moving narrative He makes it all vivid and immediate and very human Susan Larson USA Today and New Orleans Times Picayune Sallenger provid es us with a window into the tragedy as if we are stan

F ast moving narrative He makes it all vivid and immediate and very human Susan Larson, USA Today and New Orleans Times Picayune Sallenger provid es us with a window into the tragedy as if we are standing on the beach feeling the sand sting our eyes and the waters rise up our bodies It s a riveting account of a horrible disaster Chere Coen, Lafayette Adver F ast moving narrative He makes it all vivid and immediate and very human Susan Larson, USA Today and New Orleans Times Picayune Sallenger provid es us with a window into the tragedy as if we are standing on the beach feeling the sand sting our eyes and the waters rise up our bodies It s a riveting account of a horrible disaster Chere Coen, Lafayette Advertiser I simply could not put the book down It is a riveting story, made all the so because it is fully factual Further, it could happen to Southwest Florida and our own barrier islands T he potential for this is very real Lisa Fasulo, Naples Daily News T he book unwinds compelling narrative about life in mid 1800s Louisiana, the storm itself, all while integrating an important public policy message about the vulnerability of living on unprotected coastlines A finely written narrative, I highly recommend the book Eric Berger, Houston Chronicle, SciGuy Blog F or those who like a good read about historical events, the prose of Island in a Storm is elegant and fast moving Abby Sallenger tells a than 150 year old story brilliantly Not only does he spin a good historical tale, he inspires some deep thinking about the future of our fragile coastline Diane Moore, A Word s Worth blog Throughout Island in a Storm, Sallenger maintains a degree of narrative suspense, and he effectively captures multiple points of view With his focus on factual details, human reactions to the sto

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Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, a Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World

  1. Gripping true life adventure story that is impossible to put down From latest review of ISLAND IN A STORM historyinreview islandC SPAN s BookTV interview of Abby at Virginia Festival of Books on YouTube youtu Hq hlGmr8ssISLAND IN A STORM was named an outstanding 2010 title by Choice magazine of the American Library Association It s a true story of an eighteen year old French Creole woman who overcame incredible odds to survive a nineteenth century hurricane disaster Abby received his BA in Geology and PhD in Marine Science from the University of Virginia and is the former chief scientist of the U.S Geological Survey s Center for Coastal Geology He presently leads the USGS Storm Impact research group, investigating how the coast changes during extreme storms, such as hurricanes Isabel, Ivan, Katrina, and Ike As an undergraduate at U.Va Abby was a student athlete, playing four years of intercollegiate football He and his wife live in Florida.AbbySallenger

506 Reply to “Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, a Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World”

  1. Actually, I could only force myself to skim half of this book club choice Some interesting history, but excruciating trivial meaningless detail about everyone s tiniest movement before and during the storm Confusing bouncing around between threads Really annoying pot foreshadowing every few paragraphs.

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  2. I wanted from _Island in a Storm_, which was perhaps unfair to the author s goals and training as a scientist, not as a historian Sallenger spins a fairly gripping tale of the Isle Dernierne hurricane of 1856, particularly in the middle section of the book, when the storm finally hits the island This middle section is the highlight some of the build up felt drawn out even in an already short text and disconnected like Sallenger included all extant sources regardless of how they fit into the nar [...]

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  3. Excellent book well researched and read like a real page turner As a storm approaches the Isle Derniere means Last Island , off the coast of Louisiana, the wealthy guests on the island are oblivious to the impending disaster they had vacationed there through storms before and were fine, so why should they be concerned The year of the hurricane was 1856 and this was before hurricanes were given names, before meteorologists knew much about them, before people even realized how lethal hurricanes ca [...]

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  4. Well researched and easy to read book about the 1856 hurricane that decimated Derniere Island off the coast of Louisiana Fascinating to follow several peoples stories through the book I found it amazing that so many first hand accounts survived given the destruction of the hurricane.I felt like the overtones of don t build on barrier islands, we re all going down were kind of strong throughout the book not just in the conclusion where I would have drawn most of the connections between the destru [...]

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  5. LOVED this book it is incredible reads like fiction, and you can t blv that we haven t learned from the mistakes of our past we ve interviewed the author, abby sallenger, here wanderingeducators boo

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  6. Island in a Storm, by Abby Sallenger, is an historical fiction piece that provides a lot of history of hurricanes in general and the hurricane on August 10, 1856 particularly, where waters completely covered the Island Derniere, off the coast of New Orleans, that was and is at sea level where many of the aristocratic of the time visited to escape the summer heat and insects of mainland US The author follows one of the actual survivors of the storm, 18 year old Emma Mille who lives to be in her l [...]

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  7. This is a true story that reads as smoothly as a novel Sallenger tells the story through the eyes of several characters It takes place on the barrier island of Derniere off the coast of New Orleans in the year 1856 During this era there was no forewarning of hurricanes Many of the wealthy people of the area would go to this tourist town in the heat of summer to escape the yellow fever and heat of the city 8,000 lives were lost in an epidemic 3 years earlier People of island stayed in the main ho [...]

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  8. A very flawed narrative history of the Last Island Hurricane view spoiler For a book reported to be about the Last Island Hurricane and how that storm, plus later storms, effected the Louisiana Gulf Coast, Island in a Storm is very disjointed One moment you re reading about the developing weather as observed on Last Island, then in the very next paragraph, the author is talking about Hurricane Katrina or how the hurricane wind scale was developed Additionally, few if any of the people in the nar [...]

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  9. Good, especially in the straightforward accounting of the effects of a brutalizing storm No Perfect Storm in terms of character studies, but to be forgiven somewhat since all accounts are now historical, though a Sebastian Junger, Laura Hillenbrand level author would have been immersive Interesting background provided on the origins of modern storm science, the man made origins of yellow fever outbreaks, and simmering unrest in slave populations, all of which influenced upper class decisions to [...]

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  10. I really enjoyed this book, it was well written, interesting and did not get bogged down with intellectual banter but was able to get across the problems facing New Orleans This is the kind of book that I like, I learn something and I enjoy it from start to finish, I will be looking for of this authors books.

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  11. Not as exciting as I d hoped first part ended up being somewhat slow after a cliff hanging prologue could have used some tighter editing Very interesting story but I can t help but question authenticity of the account considering the time period, circumstances and so few survivors Seems inflated.

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  12. Good book about the 1856 hurricane, what it did to Derniere Island off the Louisiana coast, and what that portends for many of the other barrier islands off our coasts Very readable, well researched and informative work.

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  13. Interesting book Because I have never been to Louisiana, it was sometimes hard for me to get a visual image of what was being described I wish there had been maps and pictures in the book to help me see and understand better.

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  14. Based on the title I was expecting information about global warming and rising tides, but there was only 2 pages at the end that mentioned it This was an overview of a devastating storm that was graphic than I had expected.

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