Raging Sea: The Powerful Account of the Worst Tsunami in U.S. History Book

On Good Friday, 1964, the town of Crescent City, California was bustling as it prepared for the long Easter weekend. No one there knew that thousands of miles away, an earthquake registering 8.4 on the Richter scale was tearing through Alaska. And no one knew the quake would set off a series of tidal waves that would stretch across the Pacific and right to their back doors--turning some residents into victims, and others into heroes. . ..

Author Dennis M. Powers has written the first book ever devoted to the shocking event that all but destroyed scenic Crescent City--and tested the fortitude of its 3,000 residents. Weaving together historical research with the compelling accounts of survivors, Powers re-creates the events of the fateful night when thirty city blocks were ravaged, 289 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, and eleven people lost their lives.

But The Raging Sea is not just the stunning, well-crafted account of a real-life natural disaster. Chronicling the moment-by-moment efforts of several local heroes, it is the story of the remarkable courage displayed by those who came together before, during, and after the tsunami to save the lives of friends and strangers--often at the risk or even loss of their own. It's the story of how Crescent City rose up from the ashes of disaster to face its new, if uncertain, future--and a testimonial to the iron will and spirit of a community determined to survive.

"Reminds us that tragedy often brings out the best in people." --Willie Drye, author of Storm of the Century

"A must-read because nature is capable of a repeat performance." --Rob Mundle, author of Fatal Storm

Dennis M. Powers was a full-time attorney specializing in business law before turning his concentration to writing ten years ago. He is the author of five published nonfiction books, among other publications, and has been researching the story of the Crescent City tidal wave for over ten years. A graduate of the Harvard Business School, he is currently a full professor in the School of Business at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, where he resides with his wife, Judy, three cats, one dog, and libraries of books.