Weather Disasters

In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada's petroleum industry and America's biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration—the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina—John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world.

Disaster relief as we know it did not exist when the deadliest tornado in U.S. history gouged a path from southeast Missouri through southern Illinois and into southwestern Indiana. The tri-state tornado of 1925 hugged the ground for 219 miles, generated wind speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour, and killed 695 people.

Walden and Lily are taking a leisurely walk near the beach when they suddenly realize that the sea is receding. A short while later, they find themselves running from a torrent that sweeps through the area. Wave trains begin to flood the town, and the residents on the coast find themselves at the mercy of the tsunami, including Walden and Lily, who end up becoming enveloped by the foamy water that doesn't seem to relent.

Dangerous landslides. Collapsed buildings. Blazing fires. The violent shaking of earthquakes can cause a devastating amount of damage in a short time. Get an up-close look at how these catastrophes form and learn about some of history’s worst earthquakes.

Filled with real accounts of the devastating power of hurricanes, this audiobook takes listeners into the eye of the storm - where it may be calm, clear, and sunny, but surrounding you on all sides are black clouds and rampaging winds. Here, you'll come face-to-face with some of the greatest hurricanes in history through firsthand accounts from people who survived these destructive storms. You'll see the frightful sights and hear the roaring sounds these witnesses experienced during their harrowing ordeals.

Who was this Rita Ten Grieve? Greenpeace operative? Point person for some mysterious, deep-state conspiracy or NOAA-led, wild-eyed crusade? Ghostly emissary from the datasphere, wherever that might be? Or just a crazy stalker, a crackpot on a mission? That’s what Jake Krimmer, Rita’s latest “client,” wants to know, as Rita coaxes him into playing her “little game of grieves.” Jake’s making a fortune by predicting the calamitous effects of “weird weather.” He’d sooner forswear beef, take cold showers, and drive around in a battery-powered go-kart than be subjected to ...

ICE As we all know, the ice storms are coming more often now than they used to. What if .... they were to come and not go away. How would we survive with constant cold and constant ice? Extreme cold. Maybe this would be God’s way of destroying the world? What if? What if nothing could survive this last ice storm? Maybe it would be too cold for anything to live outdoors, no more deer to hunt, no squirrels, no outside dogs, or cats? No cows or pigs, chickens … you get the point? Imagine the worst of times, the worst in people, and if you can do that, you had best pray this story never ...

Overturned cars. Destroyed houses. Snapped power lines. The powerful winds of a tornado can cause a devastating amount of damage in a short time. Get an up-close look at how tornadoes form and learn about some of history’s worst twisters.

Consider this: Five of the most expensive hurricanes in history have made landfall since 2005: Katrina ($160 billion), Ike ($40 billion), Sandy ($72 billion), Harvey ($125 billion), and Maria ($90 billion). With more property than ever in harm’s way, and the planet and oceans warming dangerously, it won’t be long before we see a $250 billion hurricane. Why? Because Americans have built $3 trillion worth of property in some of the riskiest places on earth: barrier islands and coastal floodplains.

Robert Miller and Ernest Fawbush coined the term "Tornado Alley" after studying the pattern of tornadoes that occurred around Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. They determined that the highest number of tornadoes in the United States took place across states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. In this exciting new book, readers will learn about the history of Tornado Alley, other weather phenomena in the area, and what you can do when there is a tornado headed your way.

Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science and one of the leading young environmental journalists and bloggers working today, immerses listeners in the world of those who study hurricanes. What was once an arcane branch of meteorology (itself an arcane science) has become embroiled in one of the most politicized and hotly contested debates in American science: whether or not the recent hurricane disasters, culminating in Katrina, are connected to global warming.

On January 12, 1888, a surprise blizzard broke out in the middle of the day across the Midwest. In its path, hundreds of children and teachers found themselves stranded inside schoolhouses with no food, no heat, and very few options. Days passed, and over 235 people died as result of the harsh snow of the Schoolhouse Blizzard, but many were able to survive thanks to the bravery of others in their communities. Learn all about the disastrous weather conditions and the people who were affected by it in this book for young listeners.

In May 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, the hub of Canada's oil industry, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 90,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores the past and the future of our ever-hotter, more flammable world.

When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge. It is in the middle of nowhere and there's no way of communicating with the outside world. They are isolated, but they are not alone. As the night darkens, and fears intensify, an old tragedy gradually surfaces—one that forever changed the course of their friendship. Those dark memories could hold the key to the mystery the friends now find themselves in. And whether they will survive until morning . . .

Five-year-old Daisy Gonzalez's father is always waiting for her at the bus stop. But today he isn't, and Daisy disappears. When Daisy goes missing, nearly everyone in town suspects or knows something different about what happened. And they also know a lot about each other. The immigrants who work in the dairy farm know their employers' secrets. The hairdresser knows everything except what's happening in her own backyard.

An astonishing transformation over the last 20,000 years has seen our planet changed from a frigid wasteland into the temperate world within which our civilization has grown and thrived. This dynamic episode in our planet's history, right at the close of the Ice Age, saw not only a huge temperature hike but also the Earth's crust bouncing and bending in response to the melting of the great ice sheets and the filling of the ocean basins - dramatic geophysical events that triggered earthquakes, spawned tsunamis, and provoked a series of eruptions from the world's volcanoes.

For nearly a decade, Palley has been on the frontline of fire. He has witnessed homeowners on the worst day of their lives. He’s seen puddles of aluminum where cars were once parked. He’s watched as 150-foot walls of flame cascaded down mountainsides and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. And he’s captured, time and again, the tireless commitment of firefighters as they work to save lives and homes, in terrain where fire always seems to have the upper hand.

Swirling tornadoes, blinding blizzards, and driving rain. Killer storms have wreaked havoc throughout history, especially before reliable prediction tools were available. Follow the deadly paths of history's most dangerous weather events.

It hasn’t rained in weeks. Crops are wilting, and the grass is dry. Rivers run low. Is it a drought? How do you know? And how can you prepare for what’s to come? Droughts: Be Aware and Prepare has the answers.

Hazardous sinkholes. Major mudslides. Uprooted trees. The heavy rains during a flood can cause a devastating amount of damage in a short time. Get an up-close look at how these disasters form and learn about some of history’s worst floods.