Isaac's Storm

Isaac's Storm is a nonfiction book published in 2000 by the American author and journalist Erik Larson. Subtitled A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Storm in History, the book chronicles the events surrounding the September 9, 1900 Galveston, Texas hurricane which killed between 6,000-10,000 people, making it the deadliest natural disaster in US history. The story is largely told through the experiences of Isaac Monroe Cline, a meteorologist who led the US Weather Bureau station in Galveston at the time of the storm. A New York Times bestseller, Isaac's Storm went on to win the Louis J. Battan Author's Award for outstanding works related to the atmospheric sciences.

This study guide refers to the 2000 edition published by Vintage Books.

Plot Summary

In the early morning hours of September 9, 1900, Galveston-based meteorologist Isaac Cline can't sleep. Although the central US Weather Bureau office and its West Indies branch are unconcerned about a tropical disturbance headed in the direction of Galveston, Isaac is troubled by the sound of deep-ocean swells falling on the beach three blocks from his house, evidence he suspects of a powerful storm surge rolling across the Gulf of Mexico. At dawn, Isaac rides his horse-and-cart to the beach where he counts the minutes between swells.