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Books on natural, and man-made disasters Disaster Compendiums —
Fires —
Hurricane, Tornados, and Floods — Recommended titles
"One giant, black dust storm in April of 1935 became the signature event of a devastating period in the history of the South Plains of the United States. The author, who grew up in Pampa in the Texas Panhandle, gathered a collection of reminiscences, reports, and responses to the storm by individuals who had been in it, and by newspapers that had reported about it, then reflected about the storm during the following years. But this is basically an oral history of interviews with well over 100 people and their personal experiences on that Black Sunday in the mid-thirties. " --book description
 Dust Bowl!: The 1930s Black Blizzard (X-Treme Disasters That Changed America) "young adults, grades 9-12."
"On November 13, 1909, a fire trapped 480 coal miners--men and boys--400 feet below ground in a mine at Cherry, Illinois. Only 221 escaped. Not until the following March were the bodies retrieved and buried. Hundreds of women were widowed and nearly 500 children were orphaned in what was the worst coal mine fire in U.S. history. The author's grandfather survived by a quirk of fate: a hangover keeping him home from work that day. Tintori describes the life-and-death struggle of the miners below ground and the terror of the women and children gathered at the mine's entrance, praying for their loved ones. She draws on firsthand accounts of survivors, government inquiries and reports, legal correspondence, photographs (there are 14 black-and-white ones in the book), newspaper accounts, pamphlets, court reporters' transcripts of testimony taken at the coroner's inquest, commemorative programs, and memorabilia. Tintori's graphic account of this tragedy is a sad but gripping story." --Booklist, George Cohen
 "On October 23, 1958, gases from deep within the earth shot skyward, causing entire floors of rock to rise instantly in a coal mine in Springhill, Nova Scotia, trapping 174 men underground. Seventy-five miners never made it out alive. Miraculously, two small groups of miners survived the initial "bump" but were sealed in small caverns deep within the coal ... Placing the event into a larger context, Greene describes how it became the first nationally televised disaster ... She also details the bizarre episode in which an assistant to the governor of Georgia tried to spin the disaster into a marketing gimmick to promote tourism ... Though her use of fictionalized dialogue between the miners is sometimes distracting, Greene's extensive research brings this remarkable story to life..." --Amazon.com
"Award-winning journalist David DeKok tells, for the first time, how the Centralia mine fire really started in 1962. He shows how local, state and federal government officials failed to take effective action, allowing the fire to move underneath the small town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. By early 1981, the fire was sending deadly gases into homes, forcing the federal government to install gas alarms. A 12-year-old boy dropped into a steaming hole in the ground wrenched open by the fire's heat on Valentine's Day as the region's congressman toured nearby. DeKok tells how the people of Centralia banded together to demand help from the government, finally winning money to relocate much of the town. " --book description
"On the afternoon of Wednesday, 24 July 2002, two shifts of miners eighteen men in all entered the Black Wolf Coal Company’s Quecreek No. 1 Mine, a few miles north-west of the town of Somerset, Pennsylvania. Some seven hours later, nine men were trapped by rapidly rising water in a cavern more than 200 feet below ground, and the nine others, drenched and exhausted, had managed to struggle out to safety. This is the story of a disaster that so nearly claimed those nine lives, and of the brilliant and heroic efforts of the rescuers who, three days later, finally managed to bring the trapped miners safely back to the surface. It is, too, the account of an unfolding drama, as first Pennsylvania, then all America, and finally the world, watched and hoped as the rescue was played out in the full glare of the media." --book description
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Paddy's Lament, Ireland 1846-1847: Prelude to Hatred
Black Sunday: The Great Dust Storm of April 14, 1935
Trapped : The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster
Last Man Out: The Story of the Springhill Mine Disaster
Unseen Danger: A Tragedy of People, Government, and the Centralia Mine Fire
Nine for Nine: The Pennsylvania Mine Rescue Miracle