Isaac's Storm

Prologue-Part 1

Reading Check

1. September 9, 1900 (Prologue)

2. Tennessee (Part 1)

3. Barometer (Part 1)

Short Answer

1. It was a very wealthy city in comparison to other cities in this part of the country. (Prologue)

2. He discovers that the trees in the north had fallen in the opposite direction of the trees farther south, leading to the knowledge that hurricanes are essentially “great whirlwinds.” (Part 1)

3. Galveston delayed building a seawall because Isaac suggested in his lecture that the hurricane was unlikely to cause significant damage to the city. (Part 1)

Part 2

Reading Check

1. Louisa Rollfing and Dr. Samuel O. Young (Part 2)

2. Northeast (Part 2)

3. A halo around the moon (Part 2)

Short Answer

1. The members of the US Weather Bureau were racist, believing they had superior forecasting abilities than Cuba, which they deemed “naïve” and “in need of American stewardship.” (Part 2)

2. Based on the US Weather Bureau’s report, the storm will not be severe. (Part 2)

3. Dr. Young observes unusually high waves and the absence of strong winds. (Part 2)

Part 3

Reading Check

1. His wife and children (Part 3)

2. They play in it. (Part 3)

3. 6,000 (Part 3)

Short Answer

1. The children had gone to the beach to see the storm and returned with news that the bathhouses were collapsing from the force of the storm. (Part 3)

2. The wind tears the roof off, causing the second floor to collapse onto the first, killing and injuring several customers. (Part 3)

4. He brings them blankets, umbrellas, and food, in addition to staying out in the storm with them. (Part 3)

Part 4

Reading Check

1. To her sister-in-law’s house, Julia’s (Part 4)

2. It is the lowest reading ever recorded. (Part 4)

3. 17 (Part 4)

Short Answer

1. Dr. Young tears off one of the doors in his house and uses it as a raft. (Part 4)

2. The nuns tie the orphans together with clothesline to prevent them from being swept away; however, when the storm surge floods the dormitory, they are all drowned when they become tangled up in the clothesline. (Part 4)

3. The dog knows someone in the family is missing, Cora, and leaps into the sea to find her. (Part 4)

Parts 5-6

Reading Check

1. Dead bodies (Part 5)

2. 18 (Part 5)

3. 17 feet (Part 6)

Short Answer

1. Black men are forced at gun point to remove thousands of bodies that fill the town. (Part 5)

2. Clara Barton is a nurse and founder of the American Red Cross. She is accused of withholding supplies from Galveston’s Black population. (Part 5)

3. They continue to grow further and further apart until they completely stop speaking to each other. (Part 6)