May 23, 2011
AFFECTED AREAS: Just one day after the Tupelo tornado, two
tornadoes merged into one massive twister, flattening homes,
stores, and a large copper factory.
DEATHS: 181
4
Gainesville, Georgia,
April 6, 1936
AFFECTED AREAS: Many city neighborhoods were destroyed.
The final death count was actually far higher than the
“official” one due to the fact that in the South in 1936, officials
often did not include African Americans in official counts.
DEATHS (OFFICIAL): 216
3
Tupelo, Mississippi,
April 5, 1936
Ben Franklin
FOUNDING FATHER
OF TORNADOES
Statesman and scientist Ben Franklin became obsessed
with tornadoes, which in the 1700s were called whirlwinds.
He studied them closely and became known as an expert.
Sources: Weather.com, US Geological Survey, Science World magazine
TORNADO FACTS
An average of 1,200 tornadoes strike
the United States every year.
Most tornadoes are small and last only a few minutes.
The most powerful tornadoes can reach wind speeds
of 300 mph.
Tornadoes can move at speeds of 70 mph.
Most US tornadoes happen in the
spring, but tornadoes can strike
at any time of year.
Tornadoes that happen over
water are known as water
spouts.
The first record of a US tornado
was written in 1680, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The largest tornado ever recorded was 2.6 miles wide,
and struck on May 31, 2013, in El Reno, Oklahoma.
The brownish color of a tornado comes from the dirt
and debris inside.
The word
TORNADO comes
from two Spanish
words:
tornar,
which means “to
turn” and
tronada,
which means
“thunderstorm.”
This Doppler on Wheels radar truck is used
to research tornadoes.
This radar image shows a supercell with a hook
echo, a pattern that suggests a tornado might form.
Tornadoes can strike anywhere, so any time
there is a serious thunderstorm, watch the TV
or monitor weather websites for warnings.
Danger, like
downed
electrical wires and gas leaks,
can linger after the tornado
has passed. Be careful of
damaged buildings.
Underground basements are the safest
place to take shelter. If one is not available,
find a lower-floor closet or
bathroom. Stay away from
windows and top-floor rooms.
Do not go outside.
SURVIVING
A TORNADO
What should you do if a tornado is on the way?
BE AWARE
STAY SAFE
DON’T TRY TO RUN
TAKE SHELTER
Tornadoes move at highway speeds.
It is not possible to outrun them.
Source: American Red Cross
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank my extended Storyworks family —
editors, writers, designers, teacher gurus, and many
others. I am deeply grateful for these many years
of creative delights, friendship, and work that
have brought great meaning to my life. Many
dozens of people have helped make Storyworks
the incredible magazine it is today. Extra special
thanks to Albert Amigo, Judith Christ-Lafond,
Jennifer Dignan, Deb Dinger, Linda Eger, Allison
Friedman, Robbin Friedman, David Goddy,
Margaret Howlett, Rebecca Leon, Spencer
Kayden, Kristin Lewis, Lauren Magaziner,
Danielle Mirsky, Justin O’Neill, Hugh Roome,
Mary Rose, Barry Rust, Lois Safrani, Paul Scher,
Kaaren Sorensen, and Leslie Tevlin.
MY SOURCES
Writing even a short nonfiction article requires
countless hours of research. For each of the stories
in this book, I relied on many sources, including
books, newspaper and magazine articles, blogs,
videos, maps, diaries, interviews, and face-to-face
meetings.
Below are my main sources for each of the
articles, including some books that you can explore.
THE CHILDREN’S BLIZZARD, 1888
The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin, New York:
HarperCollins, 2004
The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, New York:
Harper & Bros., 1940. Paperback reprint, New
York: HarperCollins, 2008
Dakota, A Spiritual Geography, by Kathleen Norris, New
York: Ticknor & Fields, 1993
Great Plains, by Ian Frazier, New York: Farrar, Straus
and Giroux, 1989
More books you might like:
Blizzard!: The Storm that Changed America, by Jim
Murphy, New York: Scholastic, 2006
Dear America: My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah
Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska,
1881, by Jim Murphy, New York: Scholastic, 2001
DK Eyewitness: Weather, by Brian Cosgrove, New York:
DK Publishing, 1991
Worth, by A. LaFaye, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004
A Year Without Rain, by D. Anne Love, New York:
Holiday House, 2000
THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, 1912
Titanic: A Survivor’s Story and the Sinking of the S.S.
Titanic, by Archibald Gracie IV and John B. Thayer,
Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 2005
This includes Jack’s own account of his experiences on the
Titanic.
A Night to Remember, by Walter Lord, New York: Holt,
1955
The Story of the Titanic as Told by Its Survivors, Jack
Winocour, editor, New York: Dover Publications,
1960
Titanic Voices, by Donald Hyslop, Alastair Forsyth, and
Sheila Jemima, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999
More books you might like:
Dear America: Voyage on the Great Titanic:The Diary of
Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912, by Ellen
Emerson White, New York: Scholastic, 1998
Discover More: Titanic, by Sean Callery, New York:
Scholastic, 2014
Titanic Trilogy: Unsinkable, Collision Couse, S.O.S., by
Gordon Korman, New York: Scholastic, 2011.
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, by Deborah Hopkinson,
New York: Scholastic, 2012
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912, by Lauren
Tarshis (of course!), New York: Scholastic, 2010
THE GREAT BOSTON MOLASSES
FLOOD, 1919
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, by
Stephen Puleo, New York: Beacon Press, 2003
This is a complete history of the flood, and many of the
details of the article are drawn from Mr. Puleo’s detailed
reporting.
“Boston’s Great Molasses Flood, 1919,” by Ethan Trex,
Mental Floss, 2011
“The Science of the Great Molasses Flood,” by Ferris
Jabr, Scientific American, July 17, 2013
“Sweet, Sweet, Death: Boston’s Molasses Flood of 1919,”
by Ella Morton, Slate.com
“A Sticky Tragedy: The Boston Molasses Disaster,” by
Chuck Lyons, History Today, Volume 59, Issue 1, 2009
More books you might like:
DK Eyewitness: World War I, by Simon Adams, New
York: DK Publishing, 2007
The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919, by Deborah Kops,
Boston: Charlesbridge, 2012
My America: An American Spring: Sofia’s Immigrant Diary,
Book Three, by Kathryn Lasky, New York: Scholastic,
2004
A Place for Joey, by Carol Flynn Harris, Honesdale, PA:
Boyds Mills Press, 2001
The War to End All Wars, by Russell Freedman, New
York: Clarion Books, 2010
War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo, London, UK: Kaye
and Ward, 1982. Paperback reprint, New York:
Scholastic, 2010
THE JAPANESE TSUNAMI, 2011
The basis of my story came from an article by Setsuko
Kamayi of the Japan Times. She discovered the story of
Kamaichi East, and then provided additional reporting
for my story, including an interview with Mr. Sato.
2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake,
by various authors, Amazon Digital Services, Inc.,
2011
Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami, by
Gretel Ehrlich, New York: Vintage, 2013
Into the Forbidden Zone: A Trip Through Hell and High
Water in Post-Earthquake Japan, by William T. Vollman,
San Francisco: Byliner, 2011
Reconstructing 3/11, by various authors, Abiko, Japan:
Abiko Free Press, 2012
Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami,
and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, by Lucy Birmingham
and David McNeill, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2012
Japan Times, various articles by Setsuko Kamayi
“Aftershocks,” by Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, March 28,
2011
“Tsunami Science,” by Tim Folger, National Geographic,
February 2012
“Tsunami Warnings, Written in Stone,” by Martin
Fackler, The New York Times, April 20, 2011
“Explaining Nuclear Energy for Kids,” The Washington
Post, March 17, 2011
More books you might like:
The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck, Philadelphia: Curtis
Publishing, 1947. Paperback reprint, New York:
HarperCollins, 1986
DK Eyewitness: Volcanoes and Earthquakes, by Susan van
Rose, New York: DK Publishing, 2008
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr,
New York: Puffin, 1977. Paperback reprint, 2004.
Tsunami Disasters, by John Hawkins, New York: Rosen
Central, 2011
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011, by Lauren Tarshis,
New York: Scholastic, 2013
THE HENRYVILLE TORNADO, 2012
I traveled to Henryville to speak to teachers and students
of Henryville in May, 2013, and followed up with different
students in writing and by phone.
F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado
Outbreak of the Twentieth Century, by Mark Levine,
New York: Miramax, 2007
Tornado Alley: Monster Storms of the Great Plains, by
Howard B. Bluestein, New York: Oxford University
Press, 2006
Storm Kings: The Untold History of America’s First Tornado
Hunters, by Lee Sandlin, New York: Pantheon, 2013
More books you might like:
DK Eyewitness: Hurricane and Tornado, by Jack Challoner,
New York: DK Publishing, 2004
Tornado, by Betsy Byars, New York: HarperCollins, 1996
Tornado!: The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning,
Spinning, and Spiraling Storms, by Judith Bloom Fradin
and Dennis Brindell Fradin, Washington, D.C.:
National Geographic, 2011
Tornadoes, by Seymour Simon, New York: HarperCollins,
2001
PHOTO CREDITS
Photo Editor: Cynthia Carris
© Photos: background file folder (throughout): hanibaram/iStockphoto;
paper clip (throughout): jangeltun/iStockphoto; p1: The Granger
Collection; 7: George Silk/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images; 9:
Brand X Pictures/Media Bakery; 12: National Weather Service;
15: North Wind Picture Archives/AP Images; 19, top: Media
Bakery; bottom right: HarperCollins Publishers; bottom left:
Brooklyn Museum, 2004; 20, top: Solomon D. Butcher/Nebraska
State Historical Society; bottom: Everett Collection/SuperStock; 21:
Golbez; 22–23: Media Bakery; 23, inset: ImagineGolf/iStockphoto;
25, top: Wallace G. Levison/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images;
bottom: Brooklyn Museum, 2004; 27: Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division; 28, book cover: HarperCollins Publishers;
pencil: Sezeryadigar/iStockphoto; 29: HarperCollins Publishers; 31:
Popperfoto/Getty Images; 34: The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty
Images; 37, top left: The Granger Collection; top right: Universal
Images Group/Getty Images; bottom: SSPL/Getty Images; 39:
Albert Harlingue/Roger Viollet/Getty Images; 46: National Archives
and Records Administration; 48: The Bridgeman Art Library/
Getty Images; 49: Universal Images Group/Getty Images; 51:
Bettmann/Corbis; 52–53: The Granger Collection; 55, left: Splash
News/Corbis; 55, right, and 56: dgmata/iStockphoto; 57: Dave
Thompson/PA/AP Images; 58–59, background: Henry Groskinsky/
Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images; 58, inset: Rex Features/AP
Images; 59, inset: Ralph White/Corbis Images; 60, top: Ralph
White/Corbis Images; bottom left: Andrew Gombert/EPA/Alamy
Images; bottom right: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images;
61, top left: Bruce Dale/National Geographic Creative; top right:
Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic/Getty Images; bottom: Splash News/
Corbis; 63: AP Images; 67 and 72: Bill Noonan/Boston Fire Depart-
ment Archives/Boston Public Library; 69: Alasdair Thomson/
iStockphoto; 74 and 78: Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston
Public Library/Leslie Jones Collection; 79: The Boston Globe/Getty
Images; 80: MLHalsey; 83, bottom left: Roberto A. Sanchez/
iStockphoto; bottom right: Glasshouse Images/Alamy Images; 84,
bottom: Glasshouse Images/Alamy Images; inset: Everett Collection/
Alamy Images; 85, top: CSU Archives/Everett Collection/Alamy
Images; bottom: Underwood Photo Archives/SuperStock; 86, top:
Rue des Archives/The Granger Collection; bulb: Roberto A Sanchez/
iStockphoto; lantern: Thinkstock; 87: Hennepin County Library
Special Collections; 88–89, background: National Library of Scotland;
89, inset: Neurdein/Roger Viollet/Getty Images; 91: Ho New/
Reuters; 96: Katsushika Hokusai/Library of Congress; 98: termi-
nator1/iStockphoto; 101, combo photos: JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty
Images; 103: Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images; 105: Asahi Shimbun/
EPA/Corbis Images; 106: The Japan Times; 107: David Guttenfelder/
AP Images; 108: Yomiuri/Reuters; 109: jeremy sutton-hibbert/Alamy
Images; 111: Tori Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images; 113, top: The Asahi
Shimbun/Getty Images; bottom: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg/
Getty Images; 114: Jim McMahon/Mapman; 115: Hiro Komae/AP
Images; 116–117: Se
rgey Ponomarev/AP Images; 119: Clint Spencer/
iStockphoto; 125: Minerva Studio/Shutterstock; 129: Al Behrman/
AP Images; 131: Ann Johansson/Corbis Images; 132: Philip Scott
Andrews/AP Images; 133: Timothy D. Easley/AP Images; 134–135
(all): Bob Hower; 136: Brynn Anderson/Lincoln Journal Star/AP
Images; 137: Sally Riggs; 140: joecicak/iStockphoto; 142, top: Ryan
McGinnis/Alamy Images; bottom: Science Source; 143: sshepard/
iStockphoto; 155: Courtesy of Storyworks/Scholastic Inc.; 166:
David Dreyfuss.
ABOUT STORYWORKS
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Do you have what it takes?
UNSINKABLE. UNTIL ONE NIGHT . . .
George Calder must be the luckiest kid alive. He and
his little sister, Phoebe, are sailing with their aunt on
the Titanic, the greatest ship ever built. George can’t
resist exploring every inch of the incredible boat, even
if it keeps getting him into trouble.
Then the impossible happens
—
the Titanic hits an
iceberg and water rushes in. George is stranded, alone
and afraid, on the sinking ship. He’s always gotten out
of trouble before . . . but how can he survive this?
THE
SINKING
OF THE
TITANIC,
I SURVIVED
1912
THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER . . .
Chet Roscow is finally feeling at home in Elm Hills,
New Jersey. He has a job with his uncle Jerry at the
local diner, three great friends, and the perfect summer-
time destination: cool, refreshing Matawan Creek.
But Chet’s summer is interrupted by shocking news.
A great white shark has been attacking swimmers along
the Jersey shore, not far from Elm Hills. Everyone in
town is talking about it. So when Chet sees something
in the creek, he’s sure it’s his imagination . . . until he
I Survived True Stories: Five Epic Disasters Page 7