Disaster
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Icy Winters on the Chesapeake Bay
A History
by James L. Foster
Part of the Disaster series
Sailing on the Chesapeake Bay's myriad inlets in summer, it is hard to imagine that, come January, icebreakers may be plowing the waters you cruised in July. When portions of the Great Shellfish Bay are iced up, the flow of commerce is impeded. At the turn of the nineteenth century, with the center of the new nation's government established it its arms, a frozen Bay meant that the United States' emergence to a status on par with the foremost nations of the world might be painfully slow. James Foster chronicles the disasters and pitfalls, large and small, that come with the coldest of winters.
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Disaster on Lake Erie
The 1841 Wreck of the Steamship Erie
by Alvin F. Oickle
Part of the Disaster series
On August 9, 1841, the steamship Erie, one of the most elegant and fastest sailing between Buffalo and Chicago, departed carrying 340 passengers. Many were Swiss and German immigrants, planning to start new lives in America's heartland most never made it. The Erie erupted in flames during the night, and despite the heroic efforts of the crew of the Dewitt Clinton, 254 lives were lost. As news of this disaster spread, internationally renowned artists and writers, including Charles Dickens, were inspired to reflect on the lives lost. Historian Alvin F. Oickle's minute-by-minute account weaves together the tragic journey of the passengers, the legend that developed in the aftermath and the fury of a fire on an ocean-like lake.
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The Cedar Keys Hurricane of 1896
Disaster at Dawn
by Alvin F. Oickle
Part of the Disaster series
The destruction was beyond belief. Families watched in horror as walls of water swept away homes and businesses, and men held onto saplings for their very lives while the winds howled. Buildings on Atsena Otie were swept away so completely that only cracked stone foundations remained, and the forests of red cedar that gave the islands their name and livelihood were flattened. Resulting in dozens of deaths and millions of dollars in damage, Hurricane Number 4 in 1896 changed the Cedar Keys forever and set the city on a path to the present. Historian Alvin F. Oickle, drawing on firsthand accounts and extensive archival research, tells the story of ordinary Floridians who were faced, like so many before and so many since, with nature's fury.
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Disaster on the Potomac
The Last Run of the Steamboat Wawaset
by Alvin F. Oickle
Part of the Disaster series
For passengers of the steamboat Wawaset, August 8, 1873, began with a pleasant cruise from Washington, D.C., down the Potomac River. As the Wawaset came into sight of a small Virginia landing, fire broke out below decks, and frantic passengers leapt from the flames only to be pulled down by the swift waters. Author Alvin F. Oickle puts a human face to the tragedy as he profiles some of the seventy-five who perished, among them young mother Alethea Gray and six members of the Reed family. With a fast-paced style and firsthand accounts, Oickle masterfully narrates the last run of the Wawaset against the backdrop of a tense post-Civil War society.
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Galveston Burning
A History of the Fire Department and Major Conflagrations
by James F. Anderson
Part of the Disaster series
Since 1821, when Jean Lafitte sailed away from a burning Campeche, the history of Galveston has often been wreathed in smoke. Over the next century, one inferno breached the walls of Moro Castle, while another reduced forty-two blocks of the residential district to ash. Recognizing the importance of protecting the city, concerted efforts were made to establish the first paid fire department, create a city waterworks and regulate construction standards. Yet even with all the forethought and planning, rogue fires continued to consume architectural gems like Nicholas Clayton's “Electric Pavilion”. Author James F. Anderson explores the lessons that Galveston has learned from its fiery past in order to safeguard its future.
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The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900
In Atlanta or In Hell
by Jeffery C. Wells
Part of the Disaster series
On June 23, 1900, the Southern Railroad Company's Engine #7 and its passengers were greeted by a tremendous storm en route to Atlanta, Georgia. Stalled for some time in nearby McDonough, travelers grew impatient as rain pelted the roof and wind buffeted the cars. When finally given the go-ahead, their resulting joy was short-lived: the locomotive soon reached Camp Creek--and disaster. After weeks of constant showers, the swollen creek had eroded the bridge supports. Under the train's weight, the bridge collapsed, and all but nine perished in either the fiery fall or watery depths. With the help of local newspapers and eyewitness accounts, Georgia historian and professor Jeffery C. Wells recounts this tragic tale.
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The 1924 Tornado in Lorain & Sandusky
Deadliest in Ohio History
by Betsy D'Annibale
Part of the Disaster series
June 28, 1924, dawned hot and sunny, with fluffy white clouds hovering over a blue and inviting Lake Erie. For two Ohio communities, Lorain and Sandusky, the day ended in unimaginable disaster. In the late afternoon, the blue sky turned dark, and the wispy white puffs morphed into a mass of black thunderclouds as a monster formed on the lake. An F4 tornado, unexpected and not understood, was born from a thunderstorm on the now turbulent waters of Lake Erie. It charged ashore, smashing into Sandusky, retreated again to the lake and then headed east before turning abruptly south to make landfall in Lorain. Before the massive funnel lifted, it would destroy a city, create death records still unbroken and change the lives of thousands of people.
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A History of Connecticut's Deadliest Tornadoes
Catastrophe in the Constitution State
by Robert Hubbard
Part of the Disaster series
The Wallingford tornado of 1878 took less than two minutes, but it killed at the rate of one person per second. Twisters in Connecticut are incredibly rare, but they're often disastrous and sometimes deadly. The Windsor tornado of 1979 destroyed a field of aircraft that had survived World War II. The 1787 Wethersfield tornado ripped off a barn roof in New Britain, traveled on to Newington and finally subsided in Wethersfield after destroying a family farm. Locals remember the 1989 cyclone that ripped through Hamden and cost the state millions of dollars in repairs. Join local author Robert Hubbard as he shares the tales of these natural disasters and those who witnessed them.
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California's Deadliest Earthquakes
A History
by Abraham Hoffman
Part of the Disaster series
Home to hundreds of faults, California leads the nation in frequency of earthquakes every year. Despite enduring their share of the natural disasters, residents still speculate over the inevitable big one. More than three thousand people lost their lives during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Long Beach's 1933 earthquake caused a loss of nearly $50 million in damages. And the Northridge earthquake injured thousands and left a $550 million economic hit. Historian Abraham Hoffman explores the personal accounts and aftermath of California's most destructive tremors.
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Southwest Virginia and Maritime Disasters
From The Ss Vestris To The Morro Castle And Beyond
by Brandon Whited
Part of the Disaster series
Explore southwest Virginia's local links to maritime history. Until the growing popularity of air travel post-World War II, Americans going abroad traveled by ship. Though Southwest Virginia is not a coastal region, its residents traveled far and wide. Some were involved in the most infamous shipwrecks of the age of steamships, many of whom lost their lives. The foundering of the legendary Titanic on her maiden voyage, the horrific fire aboard Morro Castle and the smoke-engulfed decks of U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor were all witnessed by Southwest Virginians. Local author Brandon Whited grants them their long-overdue place in the history books.
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Shark Attacks of New York
A History
by Patricia Heyer
Part of the Disaster series
New York's crowded beaches can come to halt with the shout of a single word: shark! The shores of Long Island and Staten Island and the waters surrounding Manhattan have had more than thirty shark attacks recorded since the days of New Amsterdam. Legend has it that Antony Van Corlear, Peter Stuyvesant's trusted deputy, was killed by a shark crossing Spuyten Duyvil Creek while blowing his famed trumpet. In the summer of 1916, after a series of bloody encounters along the Jersey Shore, sharks terrorized beachgoers of Sheepshead Bay, frightening the entire region. Two incidents on Fire Island in 2018 within mere hours and miles of each other involved a twelve-year-old and a thirteen-year-old, striking fear in the hearts of parents. Authors Patricia and Robert Heyer chart the history of New York's shark attacks.
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Shark Attacks of the Jersey Shore
A History
by Patricia Heyer
Part of the Disaster series
Every summer, thousands flock to the Jersey Shore for its beaches and boardwalks, but lurking in the depths beyond is a historic threat to tranquility. Dozens of shark attacks and interactions have occurred throughout Jersey Shore history that reveal bravery, heartbreak and the hubris of man. A boy paid a gruesome price for teasing a trapped shark in the first recorded attack in 1842. The three bloody attacks of 1960 left one man's limb amputated. The horrific summer of 1916 included seven attacks in a two-week span and crafted the caricature of the killer shark that remains in popular culture today. Authors Patricia and Robert Heyer dive into the history of when two apex predators, man and shark, cross paths on the shores of New Jersey.
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The Nebraska Winter of 1948-49
Stories of Survival
by Barry Seegebarth
Part of the Disaster series
In 1948-49, Nebraska experienced a winter like never before. Brutal cold, unbearable winds and record snowfall made roads impassable and life difficult for locals. Farmers and ranchers struggled with hunger due to a dwindling supply of coal and food. The governor requested federal aid, and the U.S. Air Force dropped bales of hay into pastures for animals. Many locals perished in the weather, and icy roads forced the state to redesign and rebuild highways. Author Barry Seegebarth details the tragedy and courage of the Nebraska winter of 1948.
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The 1849 Cholera Outbreak in Jefferson City
by Gary Elliott
Part of the Disaster series
In 1849, a steamship named after President James Monroe headed from St. Louis to Council Bluffs, Iowa. The passengers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Philadelphia. At St. Louis, they were joined with a group of California gold diggers from Jeffersonville, Indiana. But their trip was interrupted when cholera broke out on board. Local fourteen-year-old James McHenry discovered the steamship after it landed at Jefferson City and observed the dead and dying victims along the riverbank. Author Gary Elliott details the history of the outbreak in the city and its far-reaching effects.
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Historic Shipwrecks of Coastside California
by Joann Semones
Part of the Disaster series
The stretch of California coast from San Francisco to Monterey has seen its share of disastrous shipwrecks with devastating losses, but there are also stories of courage, innovative rescues and unique salvage operations. Uncover the tale of the adventurous, ill-fated Sir John Franklin, now marked only by a nearly forgotten cemetery, and relive the wreck of the New York, one of the most notorious ships to ever sail. Learn about the Coastside's worst maritime tragedy, when the passenger steamship San Juan was struck by the oil tanker twice her size and sank in minutes, plunging seventy-five men, women and children into the sea. Join author JoAnn Semones as she shares the stories of doomed ships that found their end along Coastside California.
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Born From Disaster
by Erine Mendy
Part of the Disaster series
Reina is a young woman who spent 21 years clueless about this other world, this other her. She discovers that she possesses extraordinary powers on her birthday, which marks her last day of peace. Shielded from the truth since the beginning of her life, Reina is initially conflicted and hesitant to embrace her abilities. She faces the revelation of her true identity as she navigates a new world filled with dangerous monsters, ancient prophecies, and hidden secrets.
While Reina's path is primarily solitary, her new life will call for new acquaintances, perhaps bonds. Reina embarks on a quest to fulfill her destiny, forcing her to confront her weaknesses and embrace her true potential.
As Reina delves deeper into the mysteries of her past and the powers within her, she realizes that her role is different than what she was promised. From University to Academy, she always had a choice. But when fates twist and turn, will she be prepared to handle it?
"Born from Disaster" is a tale of magic, adventure, and self-discovery, exploring the themes of identity, emotions, and responsibility. On her journey across the realms, she wrestles with destiny, confronts darkness, and discovers what it means to truly belong.
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The Great Hurricanes of North Carolina
by John Hairr
Part of the Disaster series
From the horrific Independence Hurricane of 1775, the most lethal storm to strike its coast, to the ruinous Hugo in September 1989, a path has been cut along the shores of the Tarheel State-a path not easily forgotten. Engagingly written and illustrated with historical photos that graphically depict the disastrous effects of these mighty storms, this book is a gripping read!
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The Washington Arsenal Explosion
by Brian Bergin
Part of the Disaster series
In 1864, residents of Washington, D.C., mourned together at the largest funeral the district had ever seen. In the midst of the Civil War, the poor Irish neighborhood of the Island lost twenty-one mothers, sisters and daughters. On June 17, dangerous working conditions and a series of unfortunate events led to the deadly explosion of a Federal arsenal at Fort McNair, where the young women made cartridges to assist the war effort. In the wake of the horrific event, a monument was erected at Congressional Cemetery to honor those who were lost. Author Brian Bergin similarly memorializes these women through his book, detailing the poor working conditions, the investigation into the avoidable events leading to the tragedy and the reaction of a community already battered by the Civil War.
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The Collapse of Richmond's Church Hill Tunnel
by Walter S. Griggs Jr.
Part of the Disaster series
Explore the facts and mysteries surrounding the history and collapse of Richmond, Virginia's Church Hill Tunnel. A must for fans of railroad and Richmond history.
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was in shambles after the Civil War. The bulk of Reconstruction became dependent on the railways, and one of the most important links in the system was the Church Hill Tunnel.
The tunnel was eventually rendered obsolete by an alternative path over a viaduct, and it was closed for regular operation in 1902. However, the city still used it infrequently to transport supplies, and it was maintained with regular safety inspections. The city decided to reopen the tunnel in 1925 due to overcrowding on the viaduct, but the tunnel needed to be strengthened and enlarged. On October 2, 1925, 190 ft. of the tunnel unexpectedly caved in, trapping construction workers and an entire locomotive inside.
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the tunnel and the mystery surrounding its collapse. There were cave-ins and sink holes above the surface for decades after the tunnel was sealed up, and in 1998, a reporter from the Richmond Times-Dispatch did an investigation, trying to determine the current condition of the tunnel. In 2006, the Virginia Historical Society announced its efforts to try and excavate the locomotive and remaining bodies.
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The St. Elizabeth Hospital Fire in Iowa
by Mr. Bret Grimes
Part of the Disaster series
One of the Largest Tragedies in Iowa History. On January 7, 1950, a fire erupted at St. Elizabeth's Mental Health Facility for women. The disaster garnered state-wide and national attention as the second largest loss of life in the history of the state and the third largest hospital fire in the nation, to date. The fire, started by a patient, claimed the lives of forty patients and one nurse, while twenty-five patients were rescued. Rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that most patients were locked in their rooms at the time. Bret Grimes recounts the lives of those who fought and survived the ordeal.
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The Airship ROMA Disaster in Hampton Roads
by Nancy E. Sheppard
Part of the Disaster series
In March 1921, Major John G. Thornell and his crew were detailed to Italy to procure a new experimental airship for the United States Army Air Service. Stationed at Langley Field in Hampton, the ROMA never lived up to expectations, despite being heralded as the future of military innovation. Tragically, it crashed and erupted in a ball of fire in 1922, claiming the lives of thirty-four of the brave men aboard. Author Nancy E. Sheppard reveals the forgotten, harrowing story of one of the last great airships and those who sacrificed for the promise of a new era in aviation.
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Terror Over Elizabeth, New Jersey
Three Plane Crashes in 58 Days and the Fight for Newark Airport
by Peter Zablocki
Part of the Disaster series
With safety protocols in their infancy and the jet engine still in development, early commercial flight above American cities was too often deadly. Between December 1951 and January 1952, three separate plane crashes barreled down onto Elizabeth, New Jersey. Many dozens perished as the crashes destroyed entire city blocks and wreaked havoc throughout various neighborhoods. Frightened residents turned to the nearby Newark Airport for blame as a groundswell of political pushback occurred in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to stop the airport's expansion. President Truman formed an airport safety commission in response that recommended better zoning around airports and runways. Author Peter Zablocki tells the harrowing story of one of the most unique and tragic series of plane crashes in the nation's history.
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Indiana and the Great Flood of 1913
by Nancy M. Germano
Part of the Disaster series
Indiana suffered enormous losses in the Great Flood of 1913, yet this disaster is largely forgotten. The combined tornado and flood barreled through Terre Haute, killing more than twenty. In Peru, 114 miles away, the circus lost most of its animals in the storm. At the southwestern corner of the state, a "sea of water," as local papers put it, washed over Evansville, turning streets into canals. In the capital, levee failures left hundreds homeless and vulnerable to disease and famine. Pulling from archival photographs, newspapers and local accounts, Dr. Nancy M. Germano shares stories from across the state to reveal how Indiana's history of settlement and development contributed to one of the state's worst disasters.
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The Wreck of the Faithful Steward on Delaware's False Cape
by Michael Dougherty
Part of the Disaster series
On the first of September 1785, with night coming on and the weather deteriorating, the crew of the ship Faithful Steward sailed toward Delaware's notorious False Cape. In the summer of 1785, a group of Irish migrants took to the Atlantic to escape the abuse and persecution of the ruling classes at home. They sought a new life in the United States, a place "where the banner of freedom waved proudly" and "every good was possessed." Their ship was new and sturdy, and its captain had a good reputation. On this voyage, however, it was overloaded with migrant families and a massive cargo of counterfeit coins. By the first of September the ship was lost, somewhere off the mid-Atlantic coast. Michael Timothy Dougherty tells the story of the wreck and the people on board.
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Yellow Fever on Galveston Island
by Jan Johnson
Part of the Disaster series
Jan Johnson provides a definitive account of Galveston's fight against outbreaks of Yellow Fever, which transformed an island paradise into the City of Dreadful Death.
In the summer of Galveston's founding year, a mysterious malady accompanied by black vomit descended upon the inhabitants. Names for the devastating plague came quick and fast as the body count rose. Saffron Scourge. Bronze John. Yellow Jack. Yellow Fever. The disease's cause and cure remained elusive, as did the medical institutions Galveston would need treat the illness. Four thousand souls perished in nine epidemics between 1839 and 1867. By the time of Galveston's final Yellow Fever outbreak in 1903, however, residents were better informed and equipped. Discover the key figures and pivotal events of the island city's experience with the mosquito-borne disease.
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Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County
by G. Pat Macha
Part of the Disaster series
Weather, darkness and twists of fate have contributed to more than three hundred airplane crashes in San Bernardino County, California. Many of these accidents occurred in the vast Mojave Desert, others on the cloud-shrouded, snow-capped mountains of the largest county in the lower forty-eight states. Searches often were labored yet fruitless, even for the privileged: Frank Sinatra's mother perished here in a downed plane. The quest for an aircraft containing $5,000 in cash has become the stuff of legend. Tales of survival in uninhabited, rugged landscapes have been especially harrowing. Join renowned aircraft-crash search specialist G. Pat Macha for dozens of sorrowful, triumphant, touching and surprising true stories of those who lived through the ordeals of plane crashes--and others who didn't.
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The Tragic Sinking of Gloucester's Patriot
by Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.)
Part of the Disaster series
On the evening of January 2, 2009, Captain Matteo Russo and crewman John Orlando got underway aboard the fifty-four-foot fishing vessel Patriot, from the iconic State Pier in Gloucester, Massachusetts, bound for nearby fishing grounds in search of cod. They never returned.
What happened less than eight hours later on that bitter and dark winter early morning that caused the Patriot to sink? Why did the Coast Guard deliberate more than two hours before launching a rescue mission? Using official documents, numerous interviews and insight as a search and rescue commander, maritime historian Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.), expertly documents the tragedy of the Patriot, with startling findings. He deftly explores the condition of "normalcy bias" linked to this heartbreaking case, which can cause people-including Coast Guard personnel-to deny and sometimes over-deliberate threats to human life.
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Historic Snowstorms of Central New York
by Jim Farfaglia
Part of the Disaster series
Central New York, a region renowned as one of the snowiest in the world, has a long and stormy relationship with its winters.
From the Lake Ontario port in Oswego to the busy streets of Syracuse and Utica, every community in the region has found themselves buried from brutal snowstorms.
Author Jim Fafaglia draws from personal memories, family diaries and newspaper accounts to craft a two-hundred-year history of Central New York's whiteouts, blizzards and snowstorms.
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Historic Shipwrecks and Rescues on Lake Michigan
by Michael Passwater
Part of the Disaster series
Facing the fury and danger of Lake Michigan
Ever since French explorers first cast their eyes on Lake Michigan, this huge inland sea has been the scene of thousands of shipwreck rescues and tragedies. As mishaps and disasters proliferated, a dedicated service of lifesavers arose. Braving perilous conditions, these servicemen pulled those aboard the merchant schooner Havanna from certain death. The intrepid St Joseph Lifesavers saved the crew and passengers of the City of Duluth. Sadly, not all rescues ended in heroism, as was the case with the doomed Arab that went down along with two other ships.
Author Michael Passwater captures the stories of shipwrecks and the brave men and women that risked their lives against an angry Lake Michigan.
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New Orleans Disasters
Firsthand Accounts of Crescent City Tragedy
by Royd Anderson
Part of the Disaster series
With more than one thousand books on Hurricane Katrina, somehow not one work examines a collection of Crescent City calamity-until now. Here seven tragedies and their fallout are explored through gripping firsthand interviews, planting readers amid the chaos. Revisit the agony of the Luling ferry disaster, the horror of Pan Am Flight 759 slamming into a Kenner neighborhood and the Mother's Day bus crash on 610 that claimed twenty-two lives. Sift for answers in the unsolved fires of the Rault Center and the UpStairs Lounge. Investigate the Continental Grain elevator explosion and experience the terror of the Howard Johnson's sniper. Join author Royd Anderson on this harrowing journey through New Orleans tragedy.
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The Santa Barbara B-24 Disasters
A Chain of Tragedies Across Air, Land & Sea
by Robert A. Burtness
Part of the Disaster series
Three separate and related tragedies occurred during and after a training run of a B-24 Liberator on July 4, 1943, over the Pacific off Santa Barbara County: The heavy bomber crashed near Santa Barbara and two of the crew were never found, another B-24 search-and-rescue crew looking for survivors off the coast never returned at all and was found later to have cashed on San Miguel Island, killing all 12 aboard, and the Air Force investigators of that accident, years later, in 1954, coming to the island in a Coast Guard cutter, hit a yacht, killing two more people. Author Robert A. Burtness takes you inside these somber stories with recorded first-hand accounts and vintage images.
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The Cocoanut Grove Nightclub Fire
A Boston Tragedy
by Stephanie Schorow
Part of the Disaster series
On November 28, 1942, fire roared through Boston's famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub during what was supposed to be a high-spirited Saturday night. By midnight, more than five hundred people were dead, dying, or maimed for life.
Local author Stephanie Schorow probes the club's history, the circumstances leading to the fire, and the tragedy's lingering impact. The inferno reached deep into the city's social structure-its politics, medical care, law enforcement, and religious life-and touched nearly everyone in the Boston area, even those who had never set foot in the club. In this newly updated and revised edition, Schorow has added new information, photographs, interviews and insights on the worst nightclub fire in American history.
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The Great Crescenta Valley Flood
New Year's Day 1934
by Art Cobery
Part of the Disaster series
As Crescenta Valley residents gathered to ring in the 1934 New Year, a cloudburst broke over Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains, unleashing a deluge on mountainsides denuded by recent fires. A roaring wall of rocks, mud and water crashed down the canyons, uprooting trees, tossing boulders and automobiles like toys and carving a path of destruction. Using painstaking research and heart-rending firsthand accounts, historian Art Cobery paints a picture of survival and redemption in the face of natural disaster, including the heroic efforts of eleven-year-old Marcie Warfield to save her father and younger brother, the devastating debris flow that claimed the lives of refugees and aid workers at the American Legion Hall and the selfless acts of neighbors caught in the storm of events.
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Shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank
Disaster in New England's National Marine Sanctuary
by Matthew Lawrence
Part of the Disaster series
Beneath the churning surface of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary rest the bones of shipwrecks and sailors alike. Massachusetts' ports connected its citizens to the world, and the number of merchant and fishing vessels grew alongside the nation's development. Hundreds of ships sank on the trade routes and fishing grounds between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. Their stories are waiting to be uncovered--from the ill-fated steamship Portland to collided schooners Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary and the burned dragger Joffre. Join historian John Galluzzo and maritime archaeologists Matthew Lawrence and Deborah Marx as they dive in to investigate the sunken vessels and captivating history of New England's only national marine sanctuary.
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Portland's Greatest Conflagration
The 1866 Fire Disaster
by Michael Daicy
Part of the Disaster series
On the Fourth of July in 1866, joy turned to tragedy in Portland, Maine. A boy threw a firecracker onto a pile of wood shavings and it erupted in a blaze as residents prepared to celebrate the 110th anniversary of American independence in the momentous time following the Civil War. The violent conflagration killed two people and destroyed all structures on nearly thirty streets. Authors Michael Daicy and Don Whitney, both firefighters, chronicle the day's catastrophic events, as well as the bravery of those who fought the ferocious fire, dispelling the myth that ill-trained firefighting contributed to the devastation.
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The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George
by George T. Kapusinski
Part of the Disaster series
Few resorts could have boasted the kind of history that the Huletts Hotel had. Built in Huletts Landing, NY, on Lake George, the first hotel burned in 1915, and this arson was the subject of a sensational Upstate New York trial. Capitalizing on the notoriety that this trial created, the Eichler family rebuilt, only to again lose the hotel, this time it in a scandalous tax dispute in 1958. This book is about the burning of the first hotel, ensuing arson trials, rebuilding, the glory days of Huletts (when people like Amelia Earhart and Kennedy family members were frequent visitors), and the untimely closing of the second hotel. A second mystery surrounds 20 photographs of the original hotel taken in 1916, which were recently uncovered taped to the back of a painting of Abraham Lincoln. Kapusinski will use that story to unravel the other mysteries surrounding this lost hotel.
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A History of Alabama's Deadliest Tornadoes
Disaster in Dixie
by Kelly Kazek
Part of the Disaster series
Journey just west of America's infamous Tornado Alley to Alabama, home to some of the deadliest tornadoes of the past century. These twisters remain etched in the collective memory of the people, from the 1908 Dixie Tornado, regarded as one of the most brutal tornadoes in U.S. history, to the 1998 Birmingham Tornado, the most expensive twister in Alabama's history. Discover how the 1932 Deep South Tornadoes resulted in 268 fatalities and millions of dollars in damage, and read the terrifying account of the 1977 Smithfield Tornadoes, which rocked this Birmingham suburb with as many as six twisters in a one-hour span. Join local journalist Kelly Kazek as she shares the tales of these natural disasters and the hardy Alabamians who endured them.
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Disaster Off Martha's Vineyard
The Sinking of the City of Columbus
by Thomas Dresser
Part of the Disaster series
With its rocky coast and treacherous shoals, shipwrecks were a common occurrence in nineteenth-century Massachusetts. Few claimed as many lives as the City of Columbus. The night was clear and the route familiar for Captain Schuyler Wright and his experienced crew as they sailed a ship equipped with the latest technology. Yet with all this, the City of Columbus went down with 103 souls. Over a century later, Eric Takakjian and the Quest Marine Services team located the wreckage of the City of Columbus on the north ledge of the Devil's Bridge, off the southern tip of Gay Head. Historian Thomas Dresser takes us into the icy waters of the Atlantic as he recounts the terrible chain of events that led to disaster on that fateful night.
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Great Storms of the Chesapeake
by David Healey
Part of the Disaster series
Even before John Smith's crew weathered its first squall, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries had been ravaged by every type of storm imaginable. A 1769 hurricane altered the course of history, demolishing the shipping channels of Charlestown and making Baltimore the dominant port. A once-in-five-hundred-years storm, Tropical Storm Agnes, left more than seventy people dead and devastated the ecology of the bay. Before the blizzards of 2009 and 2010, the snowfall record was held by the combination of the Great Eastern Blizzard of 1899, which blew the water out of the bay, and the Great White Hurricane, which stranded the oyster fleet of Baltimore in feet of ice. Join author David Healey as he keeps an eye to the red horizon and chronicles the most remarkable storms to churn the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
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Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Diego County
by G. Pat Macha
Part of the Disaster series
Clear weather and a natural harbor made San Diego an early aviation hub, but success in flight came with devastating tragedies. The remains of more than four hundred aircrafts lie scattered across the county's deserts and mountains. Experts estimate that dozens more are on the ocean floor off the coast. In 1922, army pilot Charles F. Webber's DeHavilland biplane went missing over Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. In 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 178 collided midair over San Diego and crashed in the residential North Park neighborhood, claiming the lives of 144 people in what was the worst airline disaster of the era. Author and aircraft accident research specialist G. Pat Macha recounts these and other stories of astonishing survival, heroism and heartbreaking fatality.
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Explosion at Morgan
The World War I Middlesex Munitions Disaster
by Randall Gabrielan
Part of the Disaster series
While World War I raged in Europe, America scrambled to supply the Allies with ammunition, and several munitions plants were constructed near the Jersey Shore. The hastily built plants hummed with hardly a mishap until the fateful night of October 4, 1918, when a series of explosions killed one hundred people. Firemen and other volunteers were powerless to stop the destruction as it devastated the Morgan-South Amboy area and terrified the surrounding region. Strangely, though, this woeful disaster has been forgotten by history. New Jersey historian Randall Gabrielan re-creates this terrifying night and its aftermath in the context of Middlesex County's role in the Great War.
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The Great Hurricanes of North Carolina
by John Hairr
Part of the Disaster series
From the horrific Independence Hurricane of 1775, the most lethal storm to strike its coast, to the ruinous Hugo in September 1989, a path has been cut along the shores of the Tarheel State-a path not easily forgotten. Engagingly written and illustrated with historical photos that graphically depict the disastrous effects of these mighty storms, this book is a gripping read!
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Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes
Contests and Collisions
by J. Thomas Allison
Part of the Disaster series
Beginning in the mid-1800s, steamboats carried people between New York City and the Albany area on the Hudson River. Romantic images lull us into believing it was a quiet means of travel, but a crowded river, faulty equipment and the bravado of the captains resulted in at least one major catastrophe every year. Night boats collided and sank, carelessness caused boiler explosions, races put passengers at risk and fires would quickly swallow the wooden vessels. The grand "Empire of Troy "suffered many collisions. The "Swallow" broke in two on a rock, "Reindeer"'s explosion took forty lives at once and the "Oregon" and "C. Vanderbilt" entered into an epic and dangerous race. Collected from eyewitness accounts, these are some of the most exciting and frightening stories of peril aboard steamboats on the Hudson River.
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The Collapse of Richmond's Church Hill Tunnel
by Walter S. Griggs Jr.
Part of the Disaster series
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was in shambles after the Civil War. The bulk of Reconstruction became dependent on the railways, and one of the most important links in the system was the Church Hill Tunnel. The tunnel was eventually rendered obsolete by an alternative path over a viaduct, and it was closed for regular operation in 1902. However, the city still used it infrequently to transport supplies, and it was maintained with regular safety inspections. The city decided to reopen the tunnel in 1925 due to overcrowding on the viaduct, but the tunnel needed to be strengthened and enlarged. On October 2, 1925, 190 ft of the tunnel unexpectedly caved in, trapping construction workers and an entire locomotive inside. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the tunnel and the mystery surrounding its collapse. There were cave-ins and sink holes above the surface for decades after the tunnel was sealed up, and in 1998, a reporter from the Richmond Times-Dispatch did an investigation, trying to determine the current condition of the tunnel. In 2006, the Virginia Historical Society announced its efforts to try and excavate the locomotive and remaining bodies.
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The Washington Arsenal Explosion
Civil War Disaster in the Capital
by Brian Bergin
Part of the Disaster series
In 1864, residents of Washington, D.C., mourned together at the largest funeral the district had ever seen. In the midst of the Civil War, the poor Irish neighborhood of the Island lost twenty-one mothers, sisters and daughters. On June 17, dangerous working conditions and a series of unfortunate events led to the deadly explosion of a Federal arsenal at Fort McNair, where the young women made cartridges to assist the war effort. In the wake of the horrific event, a monument was erected at Congressional Cemetery to honor those who were lost. Author Brian Bergin similarly memorializes these women through his book, detailing the poor working conditions, the investigation into the avoidable events leading to the tragedy and the reaction of a community already battered by the Civil War.
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Historic Disasters of Richmond
by Walter S. Griggs Jr.
Part of the Disaster series
Richmond has had its share of man-made and natural calamities throughout its illustrious history. In 1811, fire destroyed the Richmond Theatre on Broad Street, tragically claiming seventy-two lives in one of the worst urban disasters in American history. As Union forces approached Richmond in the final months of the Civil War, Confederate troops ignited the city in flames, leaving scars still visible today. The international Spanish flu epidemic did not spare the city in the early twentieth century. The worst airplane crash in Virginia history occurred near Byrd Airport in 1961. Local author Walter S. Griggs tells these stories and more as he traces the harrowing history of Richmond's most famous disasters.
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The Sol e Mar Tragedy off Martha's Vineyard
by Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.)
Part of the Disaster series
On March 22, 1990, local fishermen Hokey Hokanson and his teenage son, Billy, set sail for Cape Cod in the "Sol e Mar." When disaster struck three days later, Billy transmitted a brief, heavily garbled radio distress call. A hoax call immediately followed Billy's cry for help, and believing that the two were connected, the U.S. Coast Guard did not launch rescue units for several days. The Hokansons' deaths prompted a new anti-hoax law and changed United States Coast Guard search and rescue procedures. Historian Captain W. Russ Webster, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.), and journalist Elizabeth B. Webster chronicle the fascinating story of the "Sol e Mar" and its crew and explain the psychology of hoax callers and Coast Guard technological advancements since the tragedy.
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The 1935 Republican River Flood
by Joy Hayden
Part of the Disaster series
On May 31, 1935, a storm system surged along the Republican River, bursting its banks in a matter of minutes with a roar that could be heard miles away. The greatest flood to hit the tri-state area of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska, it left behind a landscape rearranged beyond recognition and claimed more than one hundred casualties. However, amid all the destruction and sorrow, amazing acts of heroism and unwavering courage were reported throughout the valley. Author Joy Hayden reveals the historic disaster and the steadfast resolve of those who witnessed it.