Historic Disasters of New England: Legendary Storms, Twisters, Floods, and Other Catastrophes

by Randi Minetor

Living in New England is normally considered an idyllic experience, but it is not immune to the wrath of Mother Nature. New England has seen it floods, hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, tornadoes, drought, and wildfires have all ravaged the region at one time or another. Historic Disasters of New England tells the stories of the biggest and baddest natural calamities to have struck the region,
* The 4-state tornado swarm of 1787
* The October Gale 1841
* The Great Blizzard of 1888
* The Heat Wave of 1911
* The Great Molasses Flood of 1919
* The "Long Island Express" Hurricane of 1938
* The Twin Hurricanes of 1954

216 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2021

About the author

Crisscrossing America since 1992 in a quest to see all 50 states (done!), 431 national parks (76 to go), and more than 700 species of birds (623 so far), Randi and Nic Minetor bring their expertise and their love of the wilderness, American history, and birding to readers who share their many passions. A working writer for more than 40 years, Randi is now the author of more than 80 books in print under her own name, and a number of ghostwritten books on a wide variety of topics.

Reviews

[Ruth York · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hard to rate for me. I wanted to really like it. But while I did like it, it just wasn't quite to the level of "really" liking it. It was a nice overview of several disasters that struck New England over the centuries. And one of the stories I had glanced at is what sent me looking for a book I read earlier this year, Dark Tide, about the Boston Molasses Flood. And though I did enjoy the various stories, many about events I had no prior knowledge of, I was left feeling like I wanted something more. I was turned off by the fact that the author seemed to rely so heavily on previously published books, including quoting them. Also, some of her research seemed flawed. One example: I am not certain (according to my research) that there is an Androscoggin River near New Hampshire's Mt. Washington. And her writing seemed to suggest that. However, despite these issues that may only be a bother to me, it was a nice, brief history into a collection of what is mostly natural disasters to strike New England.