North Carolina's Hurricane History

Rating:
Summary: Rich Reference on the Tarheel State's Hurricanes
Review:

The author, an aquarium director in coastal North Carolina, does a remarkable job (especially for a non-meteorologist) of documenting the impact of every hurricane which affected North Carolina since 1875. Each storm -- including some hurricanes that made landfall elsewhere but passed across the state -- gets its own narrative which variews in length according to the storm's impact. Fran (1996), the costliest and fifth deadliest hurricane in state history, gets big coverage with 32 pages. The chronological stories of each storm are spread across several chapters covering most of the book, which are in turn sandwiched between a general introduction to hurricanes and a chapter on Nor'easters. The final few chapters -- on Nor'easters (cold core winter cyclones), hurricane effects on fauna, potential for future danger, and hurricane safety -- appear roughly cobbled together as if there were no logical order for them. Still, the collection of stories of animals' life and death in North Carolina hurricanes is quite interesting, and unique among books dealing with the impact of weather phenomena.

For a historical volume, the writing style is engaging, vividly descriptive and occasionally humorous. Nowhere else in weather related literature have I read about local speech patterns ("Hoigh toide on the sound soide") together with graphic descriptions of mayhem's aftermath, like "...battered caskets and bones lay scattered, unearthed by the hurricane's menacing storm surge."

Some of the stories of human survival, heroism and death in hurricanes are more bizarre and ghastly than fiction could conjure. These tales, together with an accurate factual record of the storms and a rich collection of black and white photos, show the tremendous effort and attention to detail by Barnes in his historical research.

The book does suffer aesthetically from its drab printing, with only cover color, by UNC Press. Such obvious parsimony, unfortunately, exemplifies the policies of many university-affiliated presses. But since substance trumps form; I deem this to be a fine non-technical addition to the literature of any hurricane enthusiast.

Rating:
Summary: Feet of Destruction
Review: A very exciting and enjoyable book!! Not many books chronicling such subjects as the immense power and effects of nature, so well balance facts relative to and its influence on us. A detailed view high up through the eyes of mother nature provides account of the lethal choreography of her daughters most dangerous dance as she makes entrance to the stage by way of North Carolina.

Rating:
Summary: STORMS APLENTY!
Review: Once again Jay Barnes has outdone himself with a very informative and educational book about the destruction and aftermath that Hurricanes cause to the east coast of the United States.Being a resident of North Carolina for the forty seven years of my life I can relate to his book with personal conviction and enthusiasm.I have experienced numerous hurricanes on my own from up close and from afar and Jay has captured these moments and others with remarkable exactness!This is a must read book for anyone interested in the unbelievable effects of Mother Nature at her best being for personal information or educational purposes! It is obvious Mr. Barnes has done his homework throughly and I anxiously await further editions and updates of future endeaveors that Jay Barnes has to offer!