Tornado!

Tornado! The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning, Spinning and Spiraling Storms

National Geographic 2011

Fantastic photos. They are absolutely stunning in their ability to convey the extent of damage and the degree of devastation that tornados can cause.

I also appreciate the fact that the authors conducted fresh interviews of tornado survivors and witnesses in their research for this book. These eyewitness accounts are heavily featured in the book’s excellent treatment of the devastating tornado in Greenburg, Kansas.

The chapter on tornado science is very well put together. There is an excellent infographic type diagram that details how tornadoes are created. It is simultaneously uncluttered, yet dense in information.

This style of infographic is regularly interspersed with the text . Not only does it offer access to the information through various modalities, but it also keeps the straight text relatively uncluttered, and thus, more accessible.

The treatment of the Greenburg tornado takes up the entire first chapter. It is covered extensively as a way to introduce readers to many of the common characteristics of tornadoes.

The coverage of other devastating tornadoes is not as extensive as the Greenville section, yet it is still well done and full of information.

Big Irony:

National Geographic also does a series called “Witness to Disaster” that implies that there will be a great density of eyewitness accounts in its treatment of natural disasters. However, the eyewitness accounts contained in that series of books are sporadic and rather sparse.

 

In comparison, this book features a much greater amount of interviews and accounts than the “Witness” titles, despite the fact that its title contains no implied promise of such an emphasis.