Synopsis
This series looks at natural disasters, why they happen and their impact on people and landscapes. What are the fastest winds recorded in a hurricane? What is a super-typhoon? Why do hurricane hunters chase after hurricanes? Hurricane! describes how and where hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons happen. It looks at how they form at sea and the destruction they can cause they strike land. The book contains several case studies, including the typhoon that hit Bangladesh in 1970, killing up to 500,000 people.
Children's Literature
New Orleans, Galveston, Bangladesh—names that evoke images of furious winds and torrential rain. Nature at its most destructive! Part of the "Nature's Fury" series, this title helps middle readers understand types of hurricanes (or tropical storms), how they are formed, and where they strike, leaving devastation in their wakes. Satellite images show the formation of hurricanes and tropical depressions; clear color photos provide views of flooded cities and storm debris. Readers will learn that a hurricane is a band of wind and rainstorms with a low-pressure eye in the center; fierce hurricane winds cause damage and loss of life, but more people usually die from the floods, landslides, and epidemics that result. Author Rooney explores environmental effects: forests and farms destroyed, water polluted, and fragile coral reefs broken and washed away. Why do many people continue to live in coastal areas despite the ever-present danger of destruction? Young scientists can debate the pros and cons, read about the problems of rescue, cleanup, and rebuilding, and learn how meteorologists measure sea and wind conditions with satellites and track storms in hurricane hunter planes. (Global warming is expected to cause stronger, more frequent hurricanes in the future.) Each large book in the series is attractively designed and well written, containing a good deal of fascinating information and extra features like a glossary, a list of web sites and DVDs, and a quick look at the "ten worst" of the various natural disasters. Most destructive tropical storm? A cyclone in Bangladesh in 1970.