Isaac's Storm - Erik Larson [112]
37 “you have the hurricane in your hand”: Piddington, 134.
38 As one nineteenth-century captain: Rosser, W. H., 41.
39 The chief did not want: For grave robbing, see Whitnah, 75. For sex scandals, see Cline, Storms, 76–78.
40 Isaac gave a beauty queen’s answer: Cline, ibid., 35.
41 “I was twenty-one”: Ibid.
The Storm: Tuesday, August 28, 1900
1 The earth’s rotation: Author interview, Willoughby (see note for this page). Cyclones in the northern hemisphere always rotate counterclockwise, in the southern hemisphere, clockwise, which helps explain why no hurricane can cross the equator. I simply could not understand how a counterclockwise cyclone could be generated by right-veering Coriolis winds, until Willoughby patiently explained the process. Blame for the pool-cue analogy, however, belongs entirely to me. See also Tannehill, 5–6.
2 On Tuesday, August 28: Fernandez-Partagas, 96, note 1.
Galveston: Dirty Weather
1 “Something new”: Cline, Storms, 39.
2 “They evidently learned”: Ibid., 39.
3 It did exist: Ibid., 45.
4 “I was told”: Ibid., 45.
5 “That looks like”: Ibid., 46–47.
6 Far to the north: McCullough, Mornings, 316–37.
7 Roosevelt called: Ibid., 337.
8 During a visit: Cline, “Summer,”336.
9 It was August: Cline, Storms, 51.
10 He tracked down reports: Ibid., 52.
11 “She was a beautiful”: Ibid., 57.
12 An inefficient man: Traxel, 42.
13 “In the past”: Ibid., 42.
14 In Greely’s first year: Cline, Storms, 65.
15 He fired: Ibid., 65.
16 A fondness for: Ibid., 66.
17 An observer in the Midwest: Ibid., 66.
18 On January 21, 1888: National Archives: Inspection Reports, Galveston, January 1888.
19 And then came: Laskin, 146–47.
20 The city had: Turner, Elizabeth, 24.
21 Through the Negro Longshoremen’s Association: Mason, 51. See also Turner, Elizabeth, 371–72.
22 On November 13, 1893: National Archives: Inspection Reports, Galveston, November 13–15, 1893.
23 At the time of Harrington’s appointment: Cline, Storms, 74.
24 In a later memoir: See Cline, Joseph, Heavens.
25 Morton’s assault: Abbe, Container 8.
26 “Nearly every real advance”: Ibid., June 17, 1893.
27 “Dunwoody is a selfish intriguer”: Whitnah, 79.
28 The system, he told Congress: Ibid., 87.
29 Moore, greedy for: National Archives: General Correspondence. Letter, March 29, 1900, Willis Moore to Owen P. Kellar.
30 “I knew,” Moore wrote: Tannehill, 110–12.
31 “Wilson,” he said: Ibid., 112.
32 He told Moore: Ibid., 112.
33 At breakfast: Cline, Storms, 83.
34 Indeed, in that same hurricane season: Miller, x (Introduction).
35 On November 26: Traxel, 296–99.
36 The sudden cold: Cline, Storms, 88.
The Storm: Thursday, August 30, 1900
1 At 9:00 A.M.: Alexander, 380.
2 “About 10 P.M.”: Ibid., 380.
3 There was, according to the Antigua: Standard Ibid., 380.
Galveston: An Absurd Delusion
1 In January 1900: Coulter, 63.
2 He explained first: Cline, “West India Hurricanes.”
3 “No greater damage”: Ibid.
4 “The damage from the storm”: Ibid.
5 “The single tornado”: Ibid.
6 By 5:00 P.M.: Greely, 444.
7 “This evidence of”: Ibid., 444.
8 “ebb surge”: I first heard this term from Nicholas K. Coch, professor, School of Earth and Environmental Science, Queens College, City University of New York.
9 “The tide now swept”: Greely, 444.
10 But Gen. Adolphus Greely: Ibid., 443.
11 “The water in the bay”: Tannehill, 35.
12 “The appearance of the town”: Ibid., 35.
13 the Progressive Association: Mason, 74.
14 The city’s engineer: Ibid., 74.
15 The city’s Evening Tribune: Ibid., 74
16 “But,” engineer Hartrick wrote: Ibid., 74.
17 “It would be impossible”: Cline, “West India Hurricanes.”
PART II: THE SERPENT’S COIL
The Storm: Spiderwebs and Ice
1 The storm entered: Fernandez-Partagas, 108.
2 As vapor rose: For an excellent discussion of clouds and cloud physics, see Volland.
3 But hurricanes defeat this cycle: For a comprehensive analysis of this phenomenon, see Liu.
4 In 1979 a tropical storm: Henry et al., 22.
5 A Philippine typhoon: Ibid., 22.