Mysteries of History with Accounts of Some Remarkable Characters and Charlatans Book

The short version first . . .

Few disasters wreak more havoc than a tsunami also know as a tidal or seismic ocean wave. Tsunamis are usually associated with earthquakes under or near a large body of water such an ocean or a sea. The wave's height is directly proportional to end results of the undersea earthquake that is its impetus. One such event occurred on Good Friday in April, 1964. The earthquake measured between 8.4 on the Richter scale with an epicenter located in Prince William Sound about 75 miles east of Anchorage, AK. The force measured by the United States Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory was determined to be equivalent to the simultaneous detonation of 12,000 Hiroshima sized atomic bombs. The focal axis of the quake pointed directly at the west coast of the United States, and the event occurred in the night. The Raging Sea: The Powerful Account of the Worst Tsunami in U.S. History by Dennis M. Powers provides a view of the wave's effects on the people and places which were the primary impact points for the wave as it propagated from the Alaskan Coast to the Western Coast of the United States.

Crescent City, California, was one of the smaller towns whose population was directly affected by the tsunami. Mr. Powers focuses on several survivors of the tsunami's effects on Crescent City. The stories show that there were no special precautions taken despite several warnings from the Seismic Sea Wave Warning System (SSWWS), located in the Hawaiian Islands. Most of the SSWWS warnings were sent to "first responders" who would provide the information to local officials and media outlets. Despite these efforts, little or no proactive measurements were taken.

Mr. Powers's account focuses on how the citizens of Crescent City, CA, pulled together and helped each other as the wave destroyed thirty city blocks in the heart of the small city. As more and detailed information was made available, citizens and first responders all pitched in to help batter something which few of them had even seen, much less lived through the power and devastation a seismic sea wave. Fortunately, only eleven people were killed by the initial impacts of the wave. As the survivors rode out the effects of the wave, they were shocked by the 289 homes and businesses were damaged, destroyed, or rendered uninhabitable in the wave's aftermath.

Mr. Powers's interviews with the victims, the first responders, and those citizens who pitched in to help their neighbors are the basis for most of the story he provides. It is clear that the wave struck first with little or no warning as the SSWWS warning system was an information outlet designed to be used by State and National Agencies to provide information to their citizens. It is clear that while the warnings were issued; due to the time of day, the holiday starting, and the effects of darkness enhanced by the change to Daylight Saving Time, all had an impact in the hard work of rescuing survivors, treating the injured, and dealing with the devastation of homes, businesses, and those impacted in ways which ranged from minor wounds to drowning and victims trapped in downed buildings and boats washed ashore by the succession of waves.

The story is not completely dark, though. The stories of the survivors are seen throughout, some of whom put their lives in harm's way on numerous occasions as they tried to help their friends and neighbors in the small city. In the aftermath of the wave, other issues developed that would challenge the resources, workers, and first responders as fires began to break out in various areas of the city due to power lines down as well as broken gas mains and other critical services.

In the end, the tsunami spent its power and became a wave series with few bad effects. The people who survived in Crescent City cleaned and cleared the debris, and they returned to their lives deeply affected by the wave and its aftermath. Fortunately, with a lot of help and some sacrifice, Crescent City continues to this day to have many things to see and do, despite the effects of the raging sea in the spring of 1964. In fact, it is amazing that Crescent City is even larger than before. All can be attributed to faith, hard work, and a positive attitude. And so, life goes on beside their beaches and ocean view.

Recommendations:

This book is historic in its setting, and it is powerful in the tenacity of those who reside and work in Crescent City, California. Its scope encounters determined, hard-working people who want to live and work there.

Despite the problems of Good Friday, 1964, Crescent City and its story are worth a read from anyone interested in a disaster turned into a Godsend by a group of hard-working citizens.
This book would find a good readership in middle school and high school libraries.


Review of The Raging Sea: The Powerful Account of the Word Tsunami in U.S. History by Dennis M. Powers by Richard W. Buro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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