On March 12, 1888, hurricane-force winds and unrelenting snow began to bring the East Coast, from Virginia to Maine, to its knees. During the next three days, the Great Blizzard raged out of control, devastating every community in its path. Through the eyes and words of survivors and victims alike, as well as the careful research for which Newberry Honor Award winner Jim Murphy is known, listeners will experience one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history and understand why, from that day on, life in the United States was forever changed.
This little book with great illustrations and photos captured the problems created by heavy snow, poor forecasting, and lack of city preparedness to deal with extreme conditions. Although storms can still overwhelm us, this storm led to changes such as better forecasting, subway systems in big cities, burial of overhead wires in cities, and cities taking responsibility for emergency preparedness and response to safeguard their citizens.