Sudden Sea : The Great Hurricane of 1938

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Summary: I am confused
Review: I loved the book and thought it was well researched and written but the author neglects to mention the worst storm to hit the United States. She refers in Sudden Sea on page 225 " in the number of lives lost, the amount of property damaged..... no other natural disaster in America's history came even close."
She does not mention Isaac's Storm that hit Galveston in 1900 and killed between 6,000-10,000 people and basically destroyed Galveston Texas. I think that was the worst natural disaster to hit the United States.

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Summary: a wicked sea, and a wonderful book
Review: As an avid fan of all things weather-related, this book does not dissapoint. Much like Sebastian Unger's Perfect Storm, Sudden Sea focusses on an entire region that is caught off-guard by what in all estimates is still today one of the most devestatingly powerful storms the United States has seen. Scotti a does a wonderful job of intertwining story-lines stretching up and down the Eastern seaboard,further illustrating just how ill-prepared the population was for this freak storm.
Imagine not one by one, the middle-atlantic and new england coastlines being so devestated that cities were unable of warning the next. This is what happened in the summer of 1938. A storm that moved so fast and with such destruction that it literally reshaped the Eastern Coastline.
Buy this book. If you ever want to catch a glimpse into the humanity that becomes us in the face of disaster, this is a wonderful read. Read it before it becomes a movie -- which in all estimates it soon should be.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting topic marred by sloppy research and editing
Review: As someone raised in the northeastern USA, who had heard stories of the great hurricane of 1938 from my parents, I anticipated a good read. Was I disappointed!
There are errors, either in research or editing, in the beginning of "Sudden Sea" which raise questions in my mind about the information presented in the rest of the book.
For example, in the Prologue (pages 3-5), she refers to a July 14, 1938, flight made by Howard Hughes (to provide a link to Katherine Hepburn, Hughes' then girl-friend whose family home was later destroyed in the 1938 hurricane). The author states that, as Hughes' plane took off from Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island, it was carrying 1,500 tons of flammable fuel, and "any glitch and it could explode as the "Hindemburg" did the month before in New Jersey." (p. 4). The airship Hindenburg actually exploded at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, fourteen months before Hughes' flight. The author, listed in the liner notes as a former reporter for the "Newark Star-Ledger", should know better--or have had a better fact-checker.
On pages 43 and 49, the author refers to the hurricane as it was poised to strike Florida, in the terms of the Saffir-Simpson Damage Potentiasl Scale. On p. 49 she writes that "by eight o-clock Tuesday night it was still curving north-northeast.
Winds had diminshed to 138 miles an hour from a morning high of 155. The Category 5 storm was downgraded to a Category 3." The Saffir-Simpson Scale was not conceived until 1972 and introduced to the public in 1975 (Williams and Duedall, "Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, p. 4) Nowhere in the 1938 written descriptions of the storm could the Saffir-Simpson Scale have been used. More sloppy research and interpretation by the author.
On p. 51, the author describes the "SS Conte di Savoia", an Italian luxury liner which had a brush with the hurricane, as "814 feet long and just under forty-nine tons." The weight should be 49,000 tons. Didn't the author have an editor?
I'm neither a trained meteorologist nor a historian. I am interested in the weather but am certainly no expert. These obvious errors make me question the author's research for the rest of the book. I found the book, with its decriptions of how many people were affected by the hurricane, interesting--but, as I said, how accurate is the author's research?

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Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: I admit it. I am a severe weather junkie. Hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, tidal waves, earthquakes-any drama wrought by nature appeals to me. In fact, I found this book by accident when looking for a book on the 1888 blizzard.

Many people who write nonfiction stories such as this rely on their experience as a journalist (i.e.; Sebastian Junger who wrote The Perfect Storm). Instead, Scotti, a fiction author of thrillers, sets the book up like a novel. Yes, there are a lot of meteorological details but it's the human drama that she succeeds with best. Using newspaper accounts and interviews with survivors, Scotti describes the "heartbreak, heroism, the incredible luck and the tragic misfortune of individuals and families."One of the reasons it took me so long to read this book was that I was continually looking up pictures and info on the internet and looking at maps. This storm wreaked havoc on all of New England, but was particularly devastating to Rhode Island, wiping one little community completely off the map. Scotti takes these personal stories and weaves them together in a gripping way that keeps the reader turning the page at a feverish pace by the end trying to find out the fate of the families she writes about.



Rating:
Summary: Not quite there
Review: I agree with what the reader from Hawaii says, and also add the following (I don't have my copy handy, but can recall)....there are two references to the storm in the Caribbean (OK it wasn't in the Caribbean, but close) moving to the EAST and would hit Florida in a few days. One of these was allegedly a direct quote from the Wx bureau. NOPE. The storm had to be heading WEST. A small note, the "Bostonian" was headed by a 1400-class I-5 Hudson, there was no locomotive on the NY,NH, & HRR with the number 14, or at least certainly not on the mainline that day. Also history seems to be in disagreement whether the train shoved a house or a boat off the tracks to reach Stonington. I've read both. Watch Hill is not six miles west of Westerly, but south of Westerly. This from a Rhode Islander, too! These and others are small and annoying details, but it throws the rest of the book into question. It points towards sloppy research and editing. I grew up listening to stories of "The Hurricane" from the folks in town who lived through it, and it was always simply referred to as "the hurricane". As in "Oh, that happened in the hurricane", sometimes "Oh, that went in '38". All others that followed were almost insignificant in comparison, and even in 2003, most survivors still refer to it as simply "the hurricane". I was disappointed by the errors, because they were so easy to avoid, but still enjoyed reading about local history. Everett S. Allen's "A WIND TO SHAKE THE WORLD" is a superior work.

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Summary: BREATH TAKING AND HEART POUNDING
Review: I am still reeling from reading this book. It is such an amazing story, so rich with detail both personal and historical. I am a big fan of anything storm related and found this book to be impeccably reaserched and beautifuly combined with the personal stories. I encourage EVERYONE to pick this book up and read it ASAP.

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Summary: Master Storyteller
Review: I had heard about the '38 hurricane from my mom and aunt ever since I can remember. Now, I'm more of a fiction fan, but this book was amazing. The way that Scotti weaves in hurricane information together with fascinating real-life stories brought the entire experience to life. It's an absolutely riveting story.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful and dramatic
Review: I picked this book up on a whim and once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. Not having been alive in 1938 I knew very little about this disaster before reading Ms.Scotti's well reserched book. The way she weaves personal stories so seamlessly with the factual information creates a riviting tale of a way of life that would never fuloly be seen again. Ms.Scotti talks about the death and destrction that ravaged the east coast (682 deaths, 432 in Rhode Island alone) but she also talks about the amazing, and in some instaces humorus ways that people surrived the storm.
One of the things that I really love about the book is that it is so full of information and stories, yet I never felt confused or lost, I can't say that for many of the books I have read these days. I think Ms.Scotti is one of the most gifted writers I have had the pleasure of reading. Her ability to tug at your heart strings and not have it be in least bit over done is very refreshing. Personaly I think she is a breath of air as welcome as the sea breeze that must have been blowing along the beach only hours before the storm touched down. I can not wait to read her next book.

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Summary: The Storm of the Century
Review: I started reading this book on Saturday and was finished on Monday morning. It completely held my interest. I enjoyed the human element and couldn't wait to find out what happened to the many people in this devasting hurricane. Each account was breath-taking. It makes me want to know more...I am recommending this book to everyone I come in contact with. That anyone lived through this storm was amazing. It makes you realize what is really important in life. I enjoyed the author's telling of this story.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this one. After hearing my parents talk about the big one in 1938 for so many years, this book brought it all together. The unexpected, frightening, and devastating effects of the storm came alive for me while reading it.
I would highly recommend this one for all New Englanders!