Kim Cross’ new book “What Stands in a Storm” is a dynamically emotional story of the April 27, 2011 Alabama Tornados. To date, the April 27, 2011 outbreak was “the deadliest day of the biggest tornado outbreak in the history of recorded weather.” The author does a wonderful job of outlining these events—before, during, and after the tornados hit the communities of Alabama. She pays strong attention to the aftermath of tornado and brings to life the videos and photos many of us only saw on television.
The book did a wonderful job of providing a chronological description of the brief history of meteorology, as well as describing where we were as far as weather forecasting on that fateful day. Kim Cross further describes the chronological events of the hours leading up to the tornado impact as well as the following weeks and years. In this description, the author gives a gripping account of how the storm impact the community by taking the lives of several young people and emotionally scaring those around them. The one criticism that I have with the book is that I was so overwhelmed with the number of victim stories that I lost track of who was related to who and the story went along. This high number of characters, however, also proves that this event didn’t simply impact a few, but an entire state.
The book reminded me of the lessons of disaster preparedness—that you must prepare yourself long before the storm; seeking out safe places, and communication plans, in addition to having ways to be notified of severe weather. The other, and most important lesson, was regarding the heart wrenching story that compels me to do more to help other prepare and look for opportunities after the storm has arrived.