Texas Storms:
Stories of Raging Weather in the Lone Star State

Popular Texas historian Gene Fowler opens this intriguing little study, which focuses on hurricanes, twisters, and floods, by quoting three meteorologists. "When you talk about normal weather in Texas, it's almost a misnomer. Abnormal weather is the norm here," asserts one expert. Another scientist contends that there "are few places in the world where the weather is more restless, where air mass changes and local and regional-scale weather disturbances are more numerous than in Texas." And a third weatherman puts it more bluntly: "nature can rage" in the Lone Star State. Any Texan will tell you that these observations are, unfortunately, accurate.

Fowler's first chapter, "September, Remember," discusses the devastating 1900 Galveston Hurricane, which killed at least 6,000 people, and still ranks as the deadliest natural disaster in our country's history. In subsequent chapters, he considers the Indianola hurricanes of 1875 and 1886 as well as Carla (1961), Beulah (1967), Celia (1970), and Ike (2008). According to Fowler, "Ike is considered the costliest storm in Texas history. A report in the Dallas Morning News rated the loss at $29 billion." Moreover, he avers, "Ike was also hard on wildlife and domestic animals. About 4,000 cattle died…another 20,000 cattle and horses were wandering loose. Alligators ate cows. A tiger ran free, and a pet lion and its owner were found in a Bolivar Peninsula Baptist church."

Fowler also examines some of the fiercest tornadoes that have ravaged Texas, including twisters in Waco (1953), Lubbock (1970), Wichita Falls (1979), Saragosa (1987), and Jarrell (1997). Describing the terrible catastrophe at Jarrell, meteorologist Roy Pringle observed: "Frame homes were completely swept away and then disintegrated. Plumbing was pulled out of the ground, and bark was stripped off trees. All of that indicates an F-5 with winds around 260 miles per hour."

In a closing chapter, "The Wrath of Nature," Fowler details the lethal Central Texas floods of October, 1998, which claimed 31 lives. "Most drowned when cars were swept away at low-water crossings," he relates. "One was electrocuted in fast-rising waters. Property damage estimates ranged from $750 million to $1.5 billion. At Warm Springs Hospital south of Luling, patients had to be taken out by helicopter."

A well-known Texas historian, Fowler has written several excellent studies. His books include Crazy Water: The Story of Mineral Wells and Other Texas Health Resorts (TCU Press, 1991), Border Radio (Revised edition, UT Press, 2002), and Mavericks: A Gallery of Texas Characters (UT Press, 2008).

Texas Storms is part of the Texas Series by Capstone Press. Geared toward young readers, the series also includes John Morthland's Texas Music: Legends from the Lone Star State (2010).

Students of Texas history, no matter their age, will be engaged by this intriguing, clearly written volume. In short, Fowler contends that these natural disasters, whether hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods, "seem to wreak havoc in the blink of an eye." How tragic, how true.


Review by Kirk Bane, Ph.D.
Managing Editor, Central Texas Studies
April 1, 2016
More Book Reviews by Dr. Kirk Bane