If you have watched TV, looked at a newspaper or even just listened to people talking, chances are that you have heard of Hurricane Dean. You would also find it next to impossible to avoid knowing about Hurricane Katrina and the damage that she caused. I used to think that hurricanes were interesting and very exciting and I was always disappointed when one came up the East Coast and missed New Hampshire and Maine. Over the years, there have been very few hurricanes of note to strike the New England area. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Boston MA has historical statistics on New England hurricanes up to the year 1997. The site was last updated in 2005, so it is not useful for current information, but it does contain a section on disasterous New England hurricanes which describes the worst ones in detail.

I have a couple of vivid memories of hurricanes that occurred when I was younger. During one of them, we had no electricity for at least 3 days. It was so long that even for a kid, being without electricity had lost its charm long before the power came back on. Another time, my mother took my brother and I for a walk to the beach to look at the waves, unfortunately during the eye of the storm. She was quite surprised when the whole thing started up again. My hurricane memories are certainly nothing like the memories of survivors of Hurricane Katrina, who will definitely never find the thought of a hurricane interesting and exciting.

If you are one of those people fortunate enough never to have experienced the devastation that a hurricane can bring, you may find severe weather, like hurricanes, interesting enough to want to know more. There are websites which can provide you with up to date information on all hurricanes including information on how hurricanes are formed. Weather.com has Hurricane Central ; the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration or NOAA has a site called the National Hurricane Center. Channel nine in Manchester has a Hurricane Page where you can track storms, view current maps of areas where hurricanes form and download and print out a map of your own which will allow you to plot the path of every storm that forms.

People who would rather have a book in hand or watch a movie will be able to find many interesting books and DVDs on hurricanes here at the library. A portion of that collection is listed here.

Hurricane season : a coach, his team, and their triumph in the time of Katrina
Inside Hurricane Katrina
The great deluge : Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
When the levees broke a requiem in four acts
Divine wind : the history and science of hurricanes
Inside the hurricane : face to face with nature's deadliest storms
Isaac's storm : a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history