The Worst World Disasters of All Time PDF Download

Author: Kevin Baker
Publisher: eBookIt.com
ISBN: 1456623435
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
The Worst World Disasters of All Time is an overview of the most terrible disaster events in recorded history. Caution: Because of the nature of this book, some readers may find some of the content and pictures disturbing.

Author: Graham Hutchins
Publisher: Exisle Publishing
ISBN: 1775592499
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
A full train plunges into a raging river at Tangiwai; the Wahine is tossed onto rocks at the entrance to Wellington Harbour; an Air New Zealand DC-10 plunges into Mt Erebus; an earthquake destroys Christchurch … disasters like these are known to all New Zealanders: they are part of our history. But New Zealand has experienced many less well-known disasters, some of them shocking and brutal. Graham Hutchins and Russell Young describe some of the most extraordinary events in New Zealand history. Who knew that a fire killed 39 people at Seacliff Mental Hospital in 1942? That 10 people died in a lahar on White Island in 1914? That a yacht race between Lyttelton and Wellington in 1951 resulted in 10 fatalities? That a tornado ripped through 150 houses in Hamilton in 1948? A fire raging through Raetihi in 1918 was so fierce it destroyed houses, shops and 11 timber mills. Drownings were so common here in the 19th century that they were called ‘the New Zealand death’. These and many other remarkable stories are told in this eye-opening book. While it describes accidents and tragedies, it also reveals acts of heroism. For when human beings make mistakes, others often achieve daring feats of rescue. Some of the stories show that we underestimate Mother Nature at our peril, but many also testify to the courage of the human spirit. Few books are genuine page-turners; this one is.

Author: David M. Brown
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1612341535
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
At 3:17 p.m. on March 18, 1937, a natural gas leak beneath the London Junior-Senior High School in the oil boomtown of New London, Texas, created a lethal mixture of gas and oxygen in the school’s basement. The odorless, colorless gas went undetected until the flip of an electrical switch triggered a colossal blast. The two-story school, one of the nation’s most modern, disintegrated, burying everyone under a vast pile of rubble and debris. More than 300 students and teachers were killed, and hundreds more were injured. As the seventy-fifth anniversary of the catastrophe approaches, it remains the deadliest school disaster in U.S. history. Few, however, know of this historic tragedy, and no book, until now, has chronicled the explosion, its cause, its victims, and the aftermath. Gone at 3:17 is a true story of what can happen when school officials make bad decisions. To save money on heating the school building, the trustees had authorized workers to tap into a pipeline carrying “waste” natural gas produced by a gasoline refinery. The explosion led to laws that now require gas companies to add the familiar pungent odor. The knowledge that the tragedy could have been prevented added immeasurably to the heartbreak experienced by the survivors and the victims’ families. The town would never be the same. Using interviews, testimony from survivors, and archival newspaper files, Gone at 3:17 puts readers inside the shop class to witness the spark that ignited the gas. Many of those interviewed during twenty years of research are no longer living, but their acts of heroism and stories of survival live on in this meticulously documented and extensively illustrated book.

Author: Eric Chaline
Publisher: Pier 9
ISBN: 9781743369951
Category : Disasters
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
HISTORY'S WORST DISASTERS takes an informative look at fifty of the biggest catastrophes in history, and paints an inspiring picture of humankind's capacity to turn the tide of adversity. The world we live in is usually benign and forgiving, but on numerous occasions over the course of history it has also provided us with a reminder of the precarious nature of our existence. HISTORY'S WORST DISASTERS deals with the worst of these events, describing fifty of the most extreme disasters we have suffered, from those natural phenomena which were beyond our control to the catastrophes we brought on ourselves and for which we have only ourselves to blame. Beginning 65 million years ago with the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, which accounted for the dinosaurs and almost extinguished all life on Earth, we move on to examine disasters that have occurred throughout the entire span of human history: the earthquakes and epidemics, the famines and hurricanes, and those horrors we have inflicted on each other through massacres, genocide and war. In addition, there are examples of disasters brought on by financial, political, and military incompetence, together with those which have arisen as a result of our industrial development, at, for instance, Chernobyl and Bhopal, and those associated with mass transportation, such as the sinking of the Titanic. Finally we take a look at environmental disasters, both actual, like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the dessication of the Aral Sea, and those which have the potential to cause us all manner of trouble in the future, including the loss of biodiversity and climate change. The scope of this book is to go beyond being a catalog of death and destruction in order to examine the consequences of these terrible events and to tell the stories of those people involved in them. Despite all the tragedy and strife, we have shown a remarkable capacity for both physical and mental endurance and have consistently demonstrated our ability to adapt to whatever is thrown at us and then bounce back even stronger than before. What emerges is a portrait of the fortitude and resilience of human beings in the face of adversity, allowing us to gain an appreciation for just how precious life is and how fragile our grip on it can be.

Author: Lee Clarke
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226108600
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Al Qaeda detonates a nuclear weapon in Times Square during rush hour, wiping out half of Manhattan and killing 500,000 people. A virulent strain of bird flu jumps to humans in Thailand, sweeps across Asia, and claims more than fifty million lives. A single freight car of chlorine derails on the outskirts of Los Angeles, spilling its contents and killing seven million. An asteroid ten kilometers wide slams into the Atlantic Ocean, unleashing a tsunami that renders life on the planet as we know it extinct. We consider the few who live in fear of such scenarios to be alarmist or even paranoid. But Worst Cases shows that such individuals—like Cassandra foreseeing the fall of Troy—are more reasonable and prescient than you might think. In this book, Lee Clarke surveys the full range of possible catastrophes that animate and dominate the popular imagination, from toxic spills and terrorism to plane crashes and pandemics. Along the way, he explores how the ubiquity of worst cases in everyday life has rendered them ordinary and mundane. Fear and dread, Clarke argues, have actually become too rare: only when the public has more substantial information and more credible warnings will it take worst cases as seriously as it should. A timely and necessary look into how we think about the unthinkable, Worst Cases will be must reading for anyone attuned to our current climate of threat and fear.

Author: Anna Claybourne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781760150105
Category : Natural disasters
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
How tall was the biggest tsumani? What causes giant hailstones? How hot is the inside of a volcano? What is a cyclonic storm? Uncover the power of the world's most destructive natural disasters!

Author: Christopher Ruddy
Publisher: NewsMaxMedia
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Catastrophe begins on January 20,1993 when William Jefferson Clinton took the oath of office, swearing to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" from enemies both foreign and domestic and chronicles the next 8 years leading to the events of September 11, 2001. This book demonstrates that the events of September 11 were not only predictable after eight years of Clinton, they were also preventable. Catastrophe exposes what really happened during the Clinton years, and how Bill Clinton and his administration systematically undermined America's national security by emasculating the U.S. military and nations intelligence agencies. Bill Clinton made America vulnerable to attack. Great dangers still threaten us. But to prepare for them we must understand how they were caused. Only then can we take the appropriate measures to ensure America's security.

Author: Gerald M. Stern
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307388492
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
The "suspenseful and completely absorbing story" (San Francisco Chronicle) of how survivors of the worst coal-mining disaster in history triumphed over corporate irresponsibility—written by the young lawyer who took on their case and won. One Saturday morning in February 1972, an impoundment dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company burst, sending a 130 million gallon, 25 foot tidal wave of water, sludge, and debris crashing into southern West Virginia's Buffalo Creek hollow. It was one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history. 125 people were killed instantly, more than 1,000 were injured, and over 4,000 were suddenly homeless. Instead of accepting the small settlements offered by the coal company's insurance offices, a few hundred of the survivors banded together to sue.

Author: Abraham Hoffman
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439660824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
A detailed look at the state’s most terrifying and destructive disasters—photos included. Home to hundreds of faults, California leads the nation in frequency of earthquakes every year. And despite enduring their share of the natural disasters, residents still speculate over the inevitable “big one.” More than three thousand people lost their lives during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Long Beach’s 1933 earthquake caused nearly $50 million in damages. And the Northridge earthquake injured thousands and left a $550 million economic hit. In this book, historian Abraham Hoffman explores the personal accounts and aftermath of California’s most destructive tremors.

Author: Susan E. Hamen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781632356048
Category : Disasters
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
Disasters are fascinating, awe-inspiring, and scary, all at the same time. Lean the facts about many of the worst disasters in human history. Then get some tips on how to prepare for disasters and stay safe.