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 (5.0 / 5.0) "A useful and relentless reminder of the scourge of fire--a weapon of terror long before 2001--and the routine heroism of the city's firefighters." -- New York Times
In the first history of the New York Fire Department--FDNY--in over sixty years, journalist Terry Golway weaves together stories of heroic firefighters and extraordinary fires to create a moving and original account of New York as seen through the eyes and actions of the city's firefighters. From the eighteenth century's most ambitious public-works project--the building of aqueducts from upstate to help control fires--to firefighter-turned-politician Boss Tweed's backroom politics, fire and firefighters have played an integral part in the life of New York. So Others Might Live also offers a new view of the building of modern urban America and the social turbulence of New York from the 1700s to the present day. 
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$2.99 |
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In June 2008, the rivers of eastern Iowa rose above their banks to create floods of epic proportions; their amazing size—flowing in places at a rate nearly double that of the previous record flood—and the rapidity of their rise ruined farmlands and displaced thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses. In Cedar Rapids, the waters inundated more than nine square miles of the downtown area; in Iowa City, where the flood was also the most destructive in history, the University of Iowa’s arts campus was destroyed. By providing a solid base of scientific and technical information presented with unusual clarity and a wealth of supporting illustrations, the contributors to this far-reaching book, many of whom dealt firsthand with the 2008 floods, provide a detailed roadmap of the causes and effects of future devastating floods. The twenty-five essays fall naturally into four sections. “Rising Rivers, Spreading Waters” begins by comparing the 2008 floods with the midwestern floods of 1993, moves on to trace community responses to the 2008 floods, and ends by illuminating techniques for forecasting floods and determining their size and frequency. “Why Here, Why Now?” searches for possible causes of the 2008 floods and of flooding in general: annual crops and urban landscapes, inflows into and releases from reservoirs, and climate change. “Flood Damages, Flood Costs, Flood Benefits” considers the complex mix of flood costs and effects, emphasizing damages to cities and farmlands as well as potential benefits to natural communities and archaeological sites. “Looking Back, Looking Forward” lays out approaches to managing the floods of the future that are sure to come. While the book draws most of its examples from one particular region, it explains flooding throughout a much larger region—the midwestern Corn Belt—and thus its sobering yet energizing lessons apply well beyond eastern Iowa. By examining the relationships among rivers, floodplains, weather, and modern society; by stressing matters of science and fact rather than social or policy issues; and by addressing multiple environmental problems and benefits, A Watershed Year informs and educates all those who experienced the 2008 floods and all those concerned with the larger causes of flooding.
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$12.12 |
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(5.0 / 5.0) Prepare for disaster with DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH: THEORY AND PRACTICE! This tool in disaster preparedness and planning presents a theoretical integration and context for what disaster mental health is and what it is not. A practical discussion of a range of mental health interventions appropriate in the wake of a disaster helps you effectively prepare to respond to a disaster of any kind.
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$52.59 |
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Ready for anything.
Both natural and man-made disasters seem to occur with greater frequency. While these disasters can be devastating, the vast majority of casualties are caused by a lack of preparation. The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Disaster Preparedness teaches readers the right steps to prepare the home or office for a disaster, and about issues relating to insurance, evacuation plans, and building an emergency to-go pack. • By an internationally acknowledged expert author • Practical, comprehensive, hands-on advice applicable to most disasters • Meets the demands of a vast and expanding market for this genre
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$8.49 |
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2007 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards: - Bronze Medalist, Young Adult Non-Fiction Category, and - Bronze Medalist, Peacemaker Award Category CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens, 2008 «Starred Choice Red Maple Book Award - Non-Fiction nominee 2009 Excerpt: When children are caught in civil wars, when earthquakes destroy homes and villages, when AIDS and other diseases shatter families and communities - the volunteers of Doctors Without Borders are there. Their mission is simple - to bring life-saving care to the world's neediest people and to speak out when the rights of the people in their care are abused or violated. Médecins Sans Frontières, known in English as Doctors Without Borders and by its volunteers as MSF, is the world_s largest independent medical humanitarian relief organization. Every year, more than 3,000 MSF volunteers and 12,000 local men and women bring medical aid to people in more than 70 countries. In Healing Our World, David Morley presents his own story and the stories of other MSFers who have volunteered in some of the most dangerous and forgotten corners of the world - the Congo, El Salvador, Chechnya, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Afghanistan, southern Africa. These are stories about healing and helping people, about making the world a better place - stories filled with sorrow and hope, anger and idealism, determination and passion.
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$9.38 |
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 (4.5 / 5.0) A swashbuckling Texan, a teller of tall tales, a womanizer, and a renegade, Fred Cuny spent his life in countries rent by war, famine, and natural disasters, saving many thousands of lives through his innovative and sometimes controversial methods of relief work. Cuny earned his nickname "Master of Disaster" for his exploits in Kurdistan, Somalia, and Bosnia. But when he arrived in the rogue Russian republic of Chechnya in the spring of 1995, raring to go and eager to put his ample funds from George Soros to good use, he found himself in the midst of an unimaginably savage war of independence, unlike any he had ever before encountered. Shortly thereafter, he disappeared in the war-rocked highlands, never to be seen again.
Who was Cuny really working for? Was he a CIA spy? Who killed him, and why? In search of the answers, Scott Anderson traveled to Chechnya on a hazardous journey that started as as a magazine assignment and ended as a personal mission. The result is a galvanizing adventure story, a chilling picture of "the new world order," and a tour de force of literary journalism.
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$7.99 |
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 (3.0 / 5.0) The dawn of the twenty-first century saw some of the most violent weather on record. Scientific evidence suggests this trend marks the beginning of a climatological nightmare: a massive and unprecedented storm of unimaginable destructive force.
Global warming is about to cause the North Atlantic Current to drop to a more southerly route, causing cold Arctic air to barrel into overheated temperate zones.
Sudden, dramatic changes in climate all over the world. Blizzard conditions. Sustained winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. The most severe winter storms in history. Shocking death rates.
Plenty. Talk-show host Art Bell and #1 bestselling author Whitley Strieber, two of America's leading investigators of unexplained phenomena, offer a wealth of viable solutions in this impressively researched examination of modern environmental science and weather-related disasters. Read The Coming Global Superstorm -- and take action today to avoid a deadly tomorrow.
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$1.99 |
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 (3.5 / 5.0) Without careful planning, organizations often do not survive major interruptions in the operation of their business. The Disaster Recovery Handbook gives readers proven processes and techniques to develop a disaster recovery plan and protect their organizations in the face of extraordinary circumstances.
Featuring a CD-ROM with templates for process and skill matrices, contact databases, risk-assessment score sheets, and more, the book gives detailed instructions for: * Assembling a recovery team * Building an interim plan * Setting up an emergency operations center * Recovering vital records * And more. Filled with practical solutions and immediately usable tools, The Disaster Recovery Handbook gives readers everything they need to keep their businesses running as smoothly as possible after a disaster.
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$26.72 |
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(5.0 / 5.0) In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many animals had to fend for themselves because their owners lost them or were unable to care for them. In Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned, Cathy Scott documents her experience working with the Best Friends Animal Society triage center to rescue lost animals and reunite them with their owners. Over two hundred stories with accompanying photos describe dramatic and challenging rescue cases with details about the rescues, the examinations, treatment, and follow-up care by the selfless volunteers who worked to save beloved best friends.
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$10.00 |
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(4.5 / 5.0) Fighting fires since 1965, veteran smokejumper Murry Taylor finally retired from his legendary career after last summer-the worst fire season in more than fifty years. After three decades of parachuting out of planes and battling blazes in the vast, rugged wilderness of Alaska and the West, Taylor recounts in Jumping Fire, with passion and honesty, stories of man versus nature at its most furious and unforgiving. He shares what it's like to hear the deafening roar, to smell the acrid burn, to feel the intense heat, to breathe the thick fumes, and to finally run for your life with exploding flames two hundred feet high and a mile wide licking at your heels. Written with a keen eye for detail and a talent for storytelling, "Jumping Fire is a tale of love and loss, life and death, and sheer hard work, set in an unforgiving and unforgettable landscape, that's second only to Norman Maclean's classic Young Men and Fire" (Publishers Weekly).
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$4.70 |