Superstorm: Nine Days Inside Hurricane Sandy

by Kathryn Miles

The first complete moment-by-moment account of the largest Atlantic storm system ever recorded—a hurricane like no other

The sky was lit by a full moon on October 29, 2012, but nobody on the eastern seaboard of the United States could see it. Everything had been consumed by cloud. The storm’s immensity caught the attention of scientists on the International Space Station. Even from there, it seemed almost 1.8 million square feet of tightly coiled bands so huge they filled the windows of the Station. It was the largest storm anyone had ever seen.

Initially a tropical storm, Sandy had grown into a hybrid monster. It charged across open ocean, picking up strength with every step, baffling meteorologists and scientists, officials and emergency managers, even the traditional maritime wisdom of sailors and What exactly was this thing? By the time anyone decided, it was too late.

And then the storm made landfall.

Sandy was not just enormous, it was also unprecedented. As a result, the entire nation was left flat-footed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration couldn’t issue reliable warnings; the Coast Guard didn’t know what to do. In Superstorm , journalist Kathryn Miles takes readers inside the maelstrom, detailing the stories of dedicated professionals at the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service. The characters include a forecaster who risked his job to sound the alarm in New Jersey, the crew of the ill-fated tall ship Bounty , Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Christie, and countless coastal residents whose homes—and lives—were torn apart and then left to wonder . . . When is the next superstorm coming?

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Nature, Environment

368 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2014

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot going on in Superstorm by Kathryn Miles and I am not talking about Hurricane Sandy. I remember Sandy quite well as I vividly recall the 6 inches of water it placed in my basement. This of course pales in comparison to the horrible toll Sandy took on the eastern seaboard and the lives it took on its very abnormal path across the U.S.

However, Miles spends most of the narrative focusing on the meteorologists and other professionals who were trying to decipher Sandy's next move as the hurricane crossed the Atlantic and prepared for landfall. If you are looking for a book which focuses on the actual landfall and people's loss and perseverance then this is not the book for you. The only focused part of this narrative is the fight for survival of the Bounty ship which made the horrible decision to go out into the ocean with the storm still surging.

Miles' focus causes a myriad of problems. First, I love meteorologists and am grateful for the amazing work they do. However, their attempts to forecast the storm are only interesting for a short period of time. It gets very repetitive to hear how Sandy did not act like a normal hurricane. Second, once the storm nears landfall and begins its destruction, Miles begins to jump between numerous story threads like the rescue of the Bounty, the meteorologists, and various state governments. Any time the narrative starts to become engaging, Miles switches gears and loses all momentum.

I should mention I personally didn't enjoy Miles' writing either. She tended to use cliches when describing her characters and told me who they were instead of showing me who they were. She presents people and situations over-dramatically. I felt like there was a lack of trust in the reader to understand the significance of various people and plot points.

A final issue I had was the first chapter called Landfall. Miles tells multiple horror stories of people killed by the storm. She specifically tells stories of parents being pulled from their children in flood waters only for the children's bodies to be found later. Miles tells these stories rapid fire and gives no names to any of these people. This all felt like people's stories were being used as shock factor. I was hoping that later in the book Miles would return to these stories and expand on what happened and who these people were or at least give them names. She doesn't. As I mentioned, the book does not tell stories like these for the most part and it feels like a fake out to begin the book. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to redeem it after that.

[Naomi Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested in this book primarily for its coverage of the tragic final voyage of the Bounty, and Miles does, indeed, devote quite a few pages to that disaster. Embedded within the larger story of the superstorm, the story of this one tall ship & its crew unfolds in an almost leisurely fashion until the end, when the catastrophe comes upon the reader with something like the shocking swiftness with which it takes over the ship.

Miles deftly weaves together numerous storylines. I was particularly drawn into the lives & mindsets of the hard-working scientists at the National Hurricane Center and with the National Weather Service who watched with growing concern & alarm as a tropical depression in the Caribbean grows to monstrous & deadly size. And I was awed by the accounts of the dangerous & important work of the "Hurricane Hunters," who fly repeatedly into the storm to take the measurements that enable the meteorologists to improve their predictions.

I had numerous "Wow, I did not know that" moments while reading. I hadn't ever realized the epic proportions of the storm itself. I did not know of the damage it wreaked upon Haiti. I did not know how difficult hurricane-tracking is. Or that with better federal funding and access to better technology, it could be better. I really appreciated all the things I learned from the book.

One of the most interesting things for me, however, was Miles's patient exploration of who gets listened to & why. The scientists' increasingly dire warnings about the storm don't seem to get the attention they should until it's too late, whereas a beloved ship captain's somewhat cavalier assurances that his aging ship is "unsinkable" leads his crew into calamity. Yet the analysis is refreshingly free of judgment. Miles reminds the reader that we're looking at all the players and their decisions with the benefit of hindsight, when it's obvious that the Bounty shouldn't have sailed toward the hurricane or that Mayor Bloomberg should have ordered evacuations earlier or that folks in Staten Island should have listened. She also unpacks the way seemingly small things like the nomenclature of storms or the purviews of the various agencies involved may have hindered clear communication to the public.

If I had any complaint with the book, it was that the day-by-day structure of it meant that the lead-up to the storm felt slow at times, while the accounts of the storm's North American landfall & the rescue of the Bounty crew felt rushed. But I suppose that, as I suggest above, this may in fact have mimicked the development and onslaught of the storm itself. Carefully researched & written with compassion & elegance, this is a great book about a terrible event.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is nonfiction (obviously). You know how this story ends (obviously). But you probably don't know how this story begins. Author Kathryn Miles has combined the right amount of meteorological science with gripping human stories to present a riveting account of Hurricane Sandy--from its inception far away in the Atlantic Ocean to its horrific destructive power as it morphed into what many called a Frankenstorm.

Find out what happened to ordinary families, a ship and its crew caught in the middle of the ocean and the brave Hurricane Hunters who purposely fly into the raging storm to better tell us what will happen. Find out the true dedication, honor and pride of the federal employees who staff the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service.

Parts of this book are truly gruesome. Miles doesn't shy away from what some people suffered. And that's a good thing. Perhaps her accounting of this superstorm will help us all take the next one more seriously--and save lives in the process. This a must-read!

[Carisa Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having experienced Superstorm Sandy myself, living on Long Island, this title popped out at me when browsing through the new releases. I really liked it even though I'm not typically into non-fiction. It gave interesting background information on how the storm was so difficult to predict, all the factors that seemed nearly impossible but that did eventually coalesce to become the perfect storm, and some stories of families, ships and other entities that got stuck braving out the storm. I cannot believe how long it took authorities to take the weather warning seriously and take evacuation protocols or that our ability to track storms is so drastically out of date and Jurassic. It's appalling and I had no idea how outdated our systems in the U.S. really are and how underfunded. It's embarassing and the general public, such as myself, has no idea. I seriously thought that with modern technology forecasters were easily able to predict the weather in this day and age. Wrong! And the fact that they refused to classify it as a hurricane and confused the public and emergency management officials...what was that all about? The bueracracy is amazing to me. This country puts people's lives at stake because they don't want to go against "protocols" or because they don't want the economy to lose money by telling people there is an emergency. Or, even worse that the idiots in the general public are actually MAD when the government officials do the right thing and close down public transportation to save lives. But some people are so brain dead and selfish that they would rather be allowed to travel "freely" even when they should be taking precautions and staying inside.
I do wish this book had more anecdotes about what happened to real people and their situations and experiences during Hurricane Sandy though. That's what I thought I was getting when I picked it up but it was definitely well written and a good read.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a gold mine for weather nerds. It might be a slow read for someone who didn't spend their formative years glued to the weather channel. Ships, politics, and even a little bit of Jim Cantore make for a great book that reads like a suspense thriller. Interesting how existing policy made it difficult for forecasters to adequately warn and prepare people for the storm. I dropped a star because I feel like there was room for more stories. And more Cantore. ;)

[Cynthia Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating (after I skimmed over the technical stuff -- that was way too dry). What is interesting about this book are three things: The Bounty, the cruise ships, and the obstacles NOAA deals with. It's as if government agencies are all playing against each other, and essentially the public, who need to be warned. This is what's wrong with Bureaucracy. It bogs down the process with over-regulation and competing big wigs. I really didn't know all that went on.

This is a non-fiction book that weaves in real-life human stories and the "science" of weather forecasting. Something that may never be solved. I do recommend it.

[Mike Cempa · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I am a meteorologist, and this skews my review a bit. The book does a fair job telling the story of how a hurricane forecast comes together, but some of the meteorology is over simplified to the point of being questionable. There is an interesting story of how the Bounty got stranded at sea in the storm and the rescue attempt. Unfortunately, the book only tells a small part of the story about the actual impact of the storm, and ignores the aftermath almost completely, focusing more on the decisions made by forecasters and local officials as the storm, which holds some interest, but is ultimately not compelling.

[Tomas Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zvláštne, že sa niekomu zdalo ako dobrý nápad natlačiť do knihy o hurikáne detaily o životnom príbehu každého meteorológa v USA aj každého námorníka, ktorý bol v tom čase na mori, aj všetkých ich príbuzných a kamarátov, v snahe urobit z toho "ľudský príbeh".
Pasáže vysvetľujúce počasie a meteorológiu sú brilantné, ale v 350 stranách irelevantných opisov postáv sa nehľadajú ľahko.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nine days from when a tropical depression churned into a hurricane and then into something vastly different from what meteorologists had ever seen or heard about before.

Starting out as a look into the working of the National Hurricane Center as they watch, investigation and track a tropical storm along with the insight into how state governments along with various businesses - cruise lines, cargo carriers, commemorative tall ships and more - deal with adverse weather and it mostly deals with a manager or captain's familiarity with their ship and it's construction.

Flashing between people - weather forecasters; the famous hurricane hunters; friends and members of the crew of The Bounty, a reconstructed version of the infamous sailing ship; US Coast Guard; passengers on various cruise ships; emergency managers and others - and historical insight in hurricane forecasting in the Caribbean, error rates, training of the Coast Guard rescue as well as teams of hurricane hunters. It also looks at how humans assess risk especially since we do it several times a day - 20% chance of rain so do we bring an umbrella or not? What percentage encourages bringing one? Getting into a car? Are you driving? Someone else? What route is the 'safer' one? Much of it involves trust in others - people, friends, government agencies, media, and other 'authority figures' - and a 'successful' experience undermines the previous qualifiers, distorting our evaluation of the next risk.

Anyway, as the storm built and organized, as the weather forecasters tried to gain a handle on exactly what Sandy was going to do, government and media were comparing it to Hurricane Irene which hit the same area the previous year. Unfortunately for the millions of people who survived the experience at home as well as those that had evacuated and returned to looted homes in 2011, far too many huddled down in place. Counting on 911 services to rescue them if when the storm struck, their location was impacted harder than anticipated. But Sandy was not Irene and overwhelmed 911 Centers could do nothing as storm surge flooding inundated the Jersey coast and the New York City area. And hurricane force winds tore buildings apart, using debris to inflict more damage and injury.

And there the book ends. Due to reporting at the time, we are all familiar with the devastation that Sandy inflicted on those areas as well as the ones further inland.

I would add two items that I wish the writer had dealt with slightly different.
- The chapters are titled by the days of the week so that the reader can see the timetable that the weather service and various governments had to work under as Sandy increased its threat level and danger to the people of the Caribbean and the Eastern Seaboard. Unfortunately, the INCLUDED historical hurricane tracking map was by date so that unless you had a calendar with October 2012 nearby (or were constantly prepared to look it up), even with the location and mileage to a location (seriously, the storm was hundreds of miles across - what was being used? Even the eye was miles across so there was some distortion there), the reader only had a vague idea where the storm was at any time.
- That historical tracking map also gave the extent of wind speed that surrounded the storm as it moved. Unfortunately, the limits were in knots. The reader should not have to have a converter from knots to miles or kilometers despite the impact the winds had on ships at sea.

Otherwise, it was a grim tale that gave some insight into how helpless the NHC, constrained by the rules regarding hurricane vs. extra-tropical as well as the definitions of those types of storms. When it had to hand off overview and reporting authority to other agencies but Sandy was a hybrid - a hurricane, a nor-easter, tornado, and more. Fortunately rules have changed which is a very positive thing since it is believed that Sandy was only the beginning of a new page in monster storms developing in the age of climatic change.

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[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurricane Sandy formed October 22, 2012 in the Caribbean. Sandy hit Kingston, Jamaica, causing about $100 million dollars in damage and leaving people without electricity. One person died. After Jamaica, Sandy strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane. Haiti was flooded terribly, causing 54 deaths, a lot of homelessness, and food shortages. Two people also died from this storm in the Dominican Republic, Canada, the Bahamas, and one person in Puerto Rico from the flooding. Cuba was especially hard hit, resulting in $2 billion dollars in damage, extensive flooding, and killing eleven people.

In the United States, residents were warned to evacuate certain areas, stock up on supplies, and attempt to weatherproof homes. Schools and businesses closed in preparation for the onslaught, and utility companies attempted to come up with ways to keep the grid online. A lot of flights were canceled. In total, twenty four states were directly impacted from Hurricane Sandy. The most heavily devastated were New York and New Jersey. I think most of us have seen the iconic images of the rollercoaster from Seaside Heights in the shallows of the ocean, which is what I remember most about the coverage of this storm. New York was flooded, with water pouring into subway entrances like waterfalls. A lot of buildings and landscaping were damaged from the onslaught as well. Over 100 people died in the United States.

All told, the storm caused over $68 billion dollars in damage. 233 people in total died. This was the deadliest and most destructive storm of the 2012 Hurricane Season. The book (which I found in large print!) was really interesting. It had a lot of information in it about how hurricane's are tracked and mapped. I had no idea that people really flew into these storms still... I guess I thought there was a new and improved way. That is a terrifying job that I would not like to have. In the book, it mentions several people on cruise ships during this storm, and I cannot imagine how horrifying that was. (Some of them were on their first ever cruise and surviving that would make me very firm in never doing it again, especially not during that time of year.) I really enjoyed this book and the personal stories in it.

[Adam Lichtenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing I will say about this book is that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kathryn Miles wrote a deeply compelling and often heartbreaking narrative of Superstorm Sandy. I stayed up till 1:15 in the morning to finish reading it.

However, I have to dock a star because of multiple small errors I noticed throughout the book. At one point, she says Hurricane Andrew struck in 1993. It did not. It hit Florida in 1992. She refers to Sandy as a potential “November Surprise” with regard to the 2012 election. The term is “October Surprise,” and getting the term wrong is doubly confusing because Sandy developed and made landfall in October, not November, anyway. Early in the book, she says the chances of a tropical wave developing into a stronger disturbance is comparable to a Little Leaguer becoming a Major League Baseball player. But while most of the 50-plus tropical waves every summer and fall fail to develop, the odds are closer to one in four or five. Not one in tens of thousands like the odds of becoming a MLB player.

There were a few other small errors or phrasings like this that I don’t remember off the top of my head. The ones I listed are minor. But when an author makes multiple mistakes on things that are plainly obvious and easily fact-checkable, it makes you wonder what other mistakes there are that you can’t pick up.

[Signy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived in NYC at the time Sandy hit, some of what is in the book I already knew, but it contains lots of personal details from a variety of people -- from doctors to meteorologists to people whose houses got washed away.

One account tells of a Coast Guard C-130 crew who had been ordered not to fly into the center of the storm because the conditions were that dangerous but they did anyway to locate and try to help a ship caught there. The extreme turbulence kept them from dropping any supplies to the ship, but they remained on station anyway. One of the flight crew is quoted as saying: “It was important. We were holding their hands. We were trying to say ‘You’re not alone. Keep fighting’.”

Yeah, I'll admit I almost cried at that part.

I found particularly interesting the parts on how the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service seemed to struggle to even make sense of this storm. By the time it reached NYC, it was a strange hybrid of hurricane and nor’easter. The meteorologists, Hurricane Hunter crews, and emergency managers hadn’t seen anything like it before or since. Neither had I, even after seeing several Florida hurricanes. Definitely recommended reading, especially in these times.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinary book that was packed with so much information, it could have been four separate books. Superstorm follows the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Service and Hurricane Hunters and many others involved in the science and unpredictability of storms. The author also covers the politics and communication issues of trying to inform the public. Superstorm Sandy was an exceptional and unusual storm. Throughout the book, the author returns to the fate of the tall ship Bounty from days before the storm to its ultimate end and heroic rescue by the Coast Guard. The book was never boring and at times I felt I was reading a fictional tale. This is not a beach read, it took me a little longer to get through it due to some technical jargon but nothing that would stop me from highly recommending. I am now going to read Miles new book, Quakeland. Living in Southern California, I'm sure that will be intense as well.

[Peter McGinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This long-ish book covers the science and meteorological details as well as human details of this one of (now) mega storms climate change seems to have unleashed on us. There is a lot of background on how they try to predict and describe and warn against hurricanes, and a close inspection of the lives of some of these scientists and weather folks, as well as city and state decisions and the stories of some of the victims of the storm.

I won’t say I couldn’t put it down as it took a few weeks to finish, but neither was I tempted to stop reading it. If I wasn’t in the mood for it on some days I would read something else and come back to it. Being in Maine at that time, my own experience with Hurricane Sandy was just rain and wind but not a life-threatening experience, and I mostly remembered some houses that burned and the Atlantic City boardwalk destruction, so this was an eye-opener in that regard.

[KayDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I had watched the news footage when the storm hit, I truly don't think I understood how unusual this weather occurrence was. This book takes you from the storm's inception, throughout all of it's machinations and then through the fully formed super storm. It was a storm that didn't do what the meteorologists thought it should do based on other storms/hurricanes and, because of that, it was extremely difficult to predict where it would strike. Plus, there's some fascinating backstories about the forecasters we've all seen on The Weather Channel and various other weather agencies and some insight into bureaucratic missteps that also affected the outcome of the storm. All in all, a fascinating read.

[Ellen Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read...

The author did a superlative job of presenting a massive amount of information and history in a thoroughly enjoyable and riveting style. She gave an exciting look into how forecasters work and the massive responsibilities that they face...and also the things that hamper them as they try to predict an unpredictable Mother Nature. The book reads like a good fiction novel...the best praise I can give to nonfiction.

[Smitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty thorough and gripping account of what made Sandy so unprecedented. I picked this up after spotting it at the library, and I’m glad I did - I never got “the hype” about Sandy and this book changed that.

However, I knocked off a star for the consistently condescending depiction of Claudene Christian. She was depicted as flighty and irresponsible (but with a heart of gold and friends who liked her) compared to everyone else, and it really bothered me throughout.

[Timothy Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart wrenching book that's hard to put down. The author goes through a few characters and follows their experience. Instead of all big names, she chooses ship captains, families, and hurricane hunters. The afterword feels underdeveloped and the book ends suddenly, but otherwise was an enjoyable read.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging read, though some of the technical stuff is a bit dry in places - especially all the acronyms. But a thorough look at a devastating storm. So many could've been saved with a better system.

Full review to come.

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Photos 76%-77% some very small and hard to see
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[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best book on Hurricane Sandy I've read. Miles does a great job crafting a story around some key characters to keep the book moving as the storm travels across the Atlantic and takes aim at the East Coast. Overall, the book was informative and compelling; I can't recommend this enough for anyone even remotely interested in the storm.

[Dannielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

The details explained so much about the predicting of storms. The author did an excellent job of maintaining that "edge of your seat" quality, combined with a personal saga, and the science. Very well done!

[Meera · Rating 5 out of 5]

First type of book like this that I have read and I really enjoyed it. It was very interesting and even with all of the technical stuff, the author managed to still make the book suspenseful. The true stories of people during the storm were also heartbreaking. Overall, a really good book.

[Daren Bolen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written book. The author sucks you into the story and makes it difficult to put down. As an Emergency Management professional, I was hoping for more details regarding preparedness and response efforts. Overall I am very satisfied with this book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read!
Just wish the author referenced the individual dates instead of just the weekday throughout the book. Not sure if that was intentional or not but it was annoying for me.
Riveting, nonetheless!

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off so poorly it almost ranked in my "books I didn't finish" list. The 2nd half redeems itself but only slightly so.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone on the East Coast!

I experienced Sandy on Long Island but was too far inland to realize the scope of just how far-reaching this storm system really was.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

-1.5 stars for stopping the story at landfall.
-0.5 stars for scientific (meteorological) inaccuracies.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a detailed, interesting account of Superstorm Sandy. There were points where it felt like too much extraneous detail, but all in all a great, informative read.

[Mark Malaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Riveting in parts, slow in others. Worth reading if you skim a few pages.