What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley

You don’t have to be a weather nerd to enjoy this roller coaster ride of a book. With just enough background information to get you invested in the very real characters. And just enough science to help explain why the April 27 outbreak and how it developed but not too science-y to turn off the casual reader. I know from an interview that Ms Cross spent many hours cross referencing tv coverage of the outbreak with social media posts and comments from survivors and victims alike to get the timeline of the many events right. The use of texts, social media posts allows the unique experience of “hearing” victims who are no longer here to tell us their stories. Ms cross also weaves the results of many interviews- from meteorologists to survivors to families of victims to tell of the terrible day as well as the lead up to it and the sometimes tragic stories of the widely varied characters Great handy table of contents and index. A great touch is the dedication at the end. The best weather event book I’ve ever read, and there’s plenty of untapped material for a follow up book on areas and people in Alabama affected by this day.

Each chapter unfolds different perspectives on these tragic real-world disasters. The writing is visceral and transports you to the world so easily, tugging on the empathic heart strings. The sympathy I developed reading this, for a College Level Weather class of all places, had me eating up the story and ending on a note in favor of humanity coming together.