I've got THE BEST book to share with you today. Authored by Abby Sallenger, PhD, Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, A Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster That Warns of a Warmer World is a glimpse of life in another century, where storms have power but surviving them was much different than it is today.

In the mid-nineteenth century, in Louisiana (a foreshadowing of Hurricanes Ike and Katrina), a powerful hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, sunk ships, ended or changed lives, and almost erased a barrier island, the resort-island, Isle Derniere. This book combines history, geography, geology, and the true story of people who lived through this storm - and the challenges they faced in the 1856 storm (and afterward). Sallenger writes so compellingly of the people who lived through it - he did extensive historical research on the families involved, as well as geological facts that not only teach us about this storm and its aftermath, but teach us that we need to learn from history, in order not to repeat it. However, we can still see development happening along coastlines in this country that repeat the mistakes of the past.

One of the best parts of this book was the connection I felt to the characters. Knowing that they were real people, and that they had LIVED through this hurricane, made the pages turn even faster. I could hardly put it down, and took it with me everywhere until I finished it (within a DAY! YES, it is that good). One thing that good writing possesses is the ability to draw the reader in. This book has it in spades.

Abby's careful research into the cultural, historical, and geological aspects of this hurricane show on every page of this excellent book. When Hurricane Katrina hit NOLA, the whole world knew about it almost instantly. The relief efforts and the human stories of survival were shared with us thanks to technology. Imagine a similar storm 150 years ago, destroying lives, boats, islands - how did people find help? What channels of communication were used to alert the world of such an ecological disaster?

In the morning light, the whirligig was the only sign of human habitation that they could still detect around them. Where the boardinghouse had once stood, they saw only wave-smoothed sand, as if the strucutre had never existed, the wreckage swept away and disposed of in the bay.

They looked to the east along the beach toward the Village of Isle Derniere, toward the first cluster of buildings that should have been standing a half-mile away. Through the mist, they now saw nothing. Their relief over surviving the storm dissolved into concern for their fellow islanders. As a group, they started walking along the beach toward the village.

Abby (Asbury) Sallenger received his B.A. in Geology and Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of Virginia and is the former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Center for Coastal Geology. He presently leads the USGS storm impact research group, investigating how the coast changes during extreme storms, such as Hurricanes Isabel, Ivan, Katrina, and Ike. As an undergraduate at U.Va., Abby was a student athlete, playing four years of intercollegiate football. He and his wife live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

We were lucky enough to sit down and talk with Abby, about his book, doing research, and listening to the earth. Here's what he had to say...

WE: Please tell us about your book, Island in a Storm...

AS: Island in a Storm is set in Louisiana, but develops lessons relevant to problems faced along U.S. coasts today. The story is about a hurricane that swept ashore in the mid-nineteenth century, killing half the people on a barrier island called Isle Derniere. It's a true story of the sea rising relative to the land—and the land changing in ways that made the island, and the people who lived there, vulnerable to a great storm. It's about the people who faced that hurricane, and how they came into harm's way by seemingly disparate, sometimes odd intersections of science, culture, disease, and agriculture. In the end, the book is about an island dying and what this means for the world's barrier islands in a warmer world.

WE: What was the genesis for you to write this book?

AS: I wanted to write a story that incorporated science in a way that non-scientists would find intriguing. Specifically, I wanted to see whether a good story could be used to effectively communicate the science of how
coasts change.

WE: Was it fun to do the historical and geographical research? What was involved in that?

AS: I started out focused on weaving  science into the story of what happened to the people on a barrier island during a great storm. But in the process I also became fascinated about the importance of culture and history in the genesis of the disaster. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring those topics and searching for inter-relationships. I visited restored plantations and museums throughout coastal Louisiana and studied the holdings of the state's research libraries to gather most of the information used to write the book.

WE: How did the descendants of people in your book react to your research (and book)?

AS: I have had the opportunity to meet and interview several descendants of those who were on the island during the 1856 storm. Of those I have heard from since the publication of the book, the response has been positive.

WE: Do you have suggestions for readers, to take the lessons from history (and your book), and focus on change (climate, development, coasts, etc.)? How can we find out more?

AS: It seems that history is commonly forgotten causing us to make the same mistakes over and over again. In regard to my book and climate change, what happened on a barrier island in  nineteenth century Louisiana is an  analog for what may happen along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States over the next 100 years. We do not need to depend upon complex computer models to know what may happen in the future, because it has happened before, and if the same conditions are met, will undoubtedly happen again.

WE: What's next for you?

AS: Not sure. I'm thinking about focusing on the genesis of coastal flood disasters. The origin of the Isle Derniere disaster discussed in Island in a Storm  was far more complex than simply a group of people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Culture and geologic history and environmental modification by humans were all important to the origin of the disaster. How about other disasters? What more can we learn?

WE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

AS: In the U.S., we continue to develop extremely hazardous locations along our coasts. These low-lying areas will become even more hazardous in the future as hurricanes come ashore on rising seas.

WE: Thanks so much, Abby! I highly recommend Island in a Storm - it's one of the best books I've ever read.