Hemingway's Hurricane

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	Hemingway's Hurricane
	by Phil Scott Sales Rank: 123667	~~List Price: $14.95~~ $10.17 At Amazon on 8-6-2008.

*Features* Cover Type: Paperback with 288 pages Published by: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press Edition: 1st Edition August 1, 2006 Written in: English ISBN 10 Number: 0071479104 ISBN 13 Number: 978-0071479103 Book Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches Weighs: 14.4 ounces *Product Description* THE FINAL BLOW They were the forgotten members of the Lost Generation, traumatized veterans of the Great War who grasped for one last chance at redemption under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Six hundred of them were shuffled off to the Florida Keys to build a highway to Key West. On Labor Day weekend 1935, the most intense hurricane ever to strike the U.S. took aim on their flimsy shacks, and the two men responsible for evacuating the veterans from harm’s way waited too long. After the storm, Ernest Hemingway took his boat from his home in Key West to aid the veterans in the Upper Keys but he found few survivors on the wreckage. His public cries of outrage bound him forever to the storm. quotes “Brilliantly and compellingly captures the events surrounding the 1935 storm, showing how human factors compounded the awful force of sky and sea.”—from the Foreword by John Rennie, Editor in Chief, Scientific American “Hemingway’s Hurricane describes a scenario tragically similar to the one surrounding Hurricane Katrina . . . little preparedness and no timely rescue for victims.”—The Sacramento Bee “Phil Scott does a favor with this book, reminding [us] that deadly storms aren’t a new event.”—Chicago Tribune “A timely topic and a compelling read.”—The Indianapolis Star *Publisher Description* A powerful late summer hurricane is tracked for several days before it makes landfall on a southern U.S. coastline. Inexplicably, government officials fail to set an evacuation plan in motion until it is too late. Those who are able escape, but the have-nots are left behind. Roaring ashore with 200 mph winds and a 22-foot storm surge, the storm overwhelms low-lying areas. Hundreds die. You might think Im describing Hurricane Katrina, but Im not. Im talking about the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 that struck the Florida Keys seventy years to the week before Katrina. More than 250 of the 400-plus victims of that earlier storm were World War I veterans who had been sent to the Keys by the Roosevelt administration to build a highway to Key West. A relief train stood by in Miami to evacuate the men in the event of a hurricanes approach, but by the time government officials called for it, it was too late. Outraged by the needless deaths, novelist and Key West resident Ernest Hemingway initiated a public outcry that led ultimately to Congressional hearings, which were widely condemned as a whitewash. Hemingway published a vehement protest essay in New Masses, a communist journal, and it was one factor landing him on the FBIs watch list years later. The tragedy had one redeeming consequence: The publics revulsion over the abandonment of so many World War I veterans helped to build support for the GI Bill, which Roosevelt signed into law in 1944. Can any redemption be wrested from Katrina? --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. *Reader Reviews* This review is from: Hemingway's Hurricane (Hardcover) The hurricane that hit the Florida Keys in 1935 is still listed as the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the US. It is estimated to have had 200 mph winds and although it's eye was not large, the power of this storm surpassed anything imagined. The victims numbered 423 known dead, 259 of them were veterans of World War I. These men had been "employed" to build a highway connecting the Keys all the way through to Key West. It was a "make work" program seemingly designed to remove the veterans from the spotlight in Washington D.C., like a splinter in the FDR political eye. The veterans had been marching on Washington and camping there demanding pay bonuses that had been promised to them. Many were in desperate situations with the Depression in full form. Sending them far away to the Keys to work and make money must have seemed like the answer to everyone's desires. Tragedy was to unfold. In September of 1935, as the veterans labored on, the Weather Bureau was tracking a tropical storm that would become the most intense hurricane in US history. Due to a lack of coverage in many areas, the path of the storm had to be projected, leaving room for error. Even so, warnings were put out to the Keys and while locals begin to make preparations, the veterans had no prior experience with hurricanes. They depended on their camp director and other in charge to make the evacuation decisions, which was to include sending a train to remove them from the path of danger. Decisions were either made to late or not made at all and the train would not arrive in time. The train itself, would be washed off the tracks and nearly washed out to sea. 259 veterans would loose their lives. While there are amazing parallels between this storm of 1935 and Katrina, there are also striking differences. The forecasters urgently warned about Katrina, a more direct and well broadcast warning than in 1935. In both storms people waited to be evacuated by others for a variety of reasons. While the reasons are varied, the reality is that government is not all powerful nor is it capable of dealing with huge scale evacuations. When individuals give up their personal responsibility, the results will be haphazard and even deadly as is proven true in both these hurricanes. When those directly in charge fail to take reasonable steps to protect the very lives they are charged with protecting, the result will be disastrous. In this case the camp director in 1935 and the Mayor of New Orleans seem to have a lot in common. This is a vivid account of the 1935 hurricane. The stories of the victims and survivors as their island is virtually swept clean, inundated by the storm surge is intense and electrifying. These are stories that have a depth of emotion that was not expected from men who had become inured to hardship and death in WWI. The attempted downplaying of the disaster for political reasons is stunning. While the role of Ernest Hemingway seems nearly minute, he did draw attention to the plight of the veterans. Phil Scott has written a clear and vivid account of a disaster in the making and the lives that were battered and destroyed. The politics and the human faces of the intrepid veterans combine to form a story well worth the reading. Comment \| \| (Report this) Back To Top
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