Extreme Disaster

Normalcy is a fragile thing. For the people in these twenty real-life accounts, it shattered in an instant. What happens when the ground opens up, the sky falls, or a wall of fire consumes everything in its path? When the mundane world of deadlines and daily routines is replaced by a desperate fight for the next breath? SURVIVING - Disasters places you directly into the heart of catastrophe. Journey alongside ordinary people—parents, teachers, and commuters—thrown into the most extreme situations imaginable. From catastrophic tsunamis and terrifying wildfires to sudden building ...

Fourteen billion gallons of water stand behind a failing structure. Zero time remains to run. After six days of relentless mountain rain, Crown Peak is tearing itself apart from the inside out. Twelve miles downstream, the resort town of Silverpine is packed with thirty thousand festivalgoers trapped in total gridlock. They are completely unaware of the catastrophe about to erase their location from the map. When the massive concrete wall shatters, veteran river guide Briar Holt and safety engineer Hollis Keene must fight against impossible odds. They are forced to lead a group of strangers...

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were...

The water is rising. The doors are locked. When Category 4 Hurricane Iris slams into the Louisiana coast, Port Mercy High School becomes the final refuge for 160 stranded residents. Disgraced disaster manager Grant Mercer knows the aging concrete building is their only defense against the catastrophic surge. But the refuge is a trap. The emergency supplies have been systematically stripped. The radios are dead. And as the muddy floodwaters breach the first floor, Grant makes a horrifying discovery: the exit doors have been chained and padlocked from the outside. Corrupt officials have sold ...

Unlock the secrets of survival with this riveting expedition into the science of disaster—now revised and updated to address the pandemic, the role of social media in disaster response, and more—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Kids in the World Disaster can come in...

The storm isn’t the only thing that kills. When a supercell touches down across the American Midwest, seasoned storm chasers race to capture its fury. But as the skies darken and the winds rise, a violent gang of looters follows the destruction—robbing, hunting, and silencing anyone in their way. Caught between the storm and the savages, a scattered group of chasers must survive tornadoes, betrayal, and chaos on the open road. As towns are shredded and secrets exposed, only one thing is certain: not everyone will make it out alive. Perfect for fans of Twister, Into the Storm, and ...

An Instant New York Times Bestseller! New York Times best-selling journalist Jeff Goodell presents an important examination of the impact that temperature rise will have on our lives and on our planet, offering a vital new perspective on where we are headed, how we can prepare, and what is at...

The saga of the greatest tornado chaser who ever lived: a tale of obsession and daring and an extraordinary account of humanity’s high-stakes race to understand nature’s fiercest phenomenon from Brantley Hargrove, “one of today’s great science writers” (The Washington Post). At the...

Narrated by the author: Experience the Southern California wildfires through Jacob Soboroff’s eyes—and voice. New York Times Bestseller and #1 Los Angeles Times Bestseller A "gripping, unshakeable firsthand account" (San Francisco Chronicle) of the firestorm that consumed Los Angeles, from...

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were...

From national bestselling author and retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson comes the essential guide for surviving today’s emergencies—from navigating in the wild to staying alive in any disaster. These 100 skills, adapted for civilians from actual field experiences of special forces operations...

A stunning account of a colossal wildfire and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind from the award-winning, best-selling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce “Riveting, spellbinding, astounding on every page…Captures the majesty and...

When the sky turns dark and the winds pick up, it can be hard to know what to do to stay safe during a tornado. "Storm Watch: A Guide to Recognizing and Surviving Tornado Weather" is the essential guide to help you prepare for, recognize, and survive tornadoes. In this comprehensive guide, you'll learn how to recognize the signs of tornado weather, including changes in the sky, wind, temperature, and humidity. You'll also discover how to use weather forecasts, radar, and other tools to predict and track tornadoes, so you can be prepared before they strike. But recognizing tornado weather is...

Forty thousand tourists. One road out. Zero warning. Labor Day weekend is supposed to be the financial crescendo for the barrier island town of Harbor Point, New Jersey. The beaches are packed, the boardwalk is humming, and the local politicians are determined to keep the tourist cash flowing. But out over the anomalously warm Atlantic waters, nature is composing a catastrophe. When a massive, cycling supercell begins spinning off a linear wall of violent waterspouts, head lifeguard Ryan Keller recognizes the immediate, lethal threat to the oblivious crowds. With the town's outdated warning...

Life on the Edge is a gripping collection of 50 true survival stories drawn from real disasters, extreme environments, and moments where life balanced on the thinnest possible line. These are not tales of adventure tourism—these are accounts of people who faced freezing oceans, collapsing mountains, desert heat, volcanic tsunamis, aircraft wrecks, mine disasters, and violent human conflict, and somehow lived to tell the story. Inside these pages, readers will encounter: • Shipwreck survivors drifting for months at sea • Children lost in scorching deserts • Climbers buried in ...

Dr. Kira Venn warned them. She mapped the fracture line, modeled the failure, and wrote the report that predicted exactly how the seafloor off Cape Mercy, Oregon would collapse. The corporation that owned the drilling lease buried her findings. Her own husband helped seal them. Now someone has turned her worst-case scenario into a weapon. When a tsunami strikes Cape Mercy with the warning sirens remotely locked and the buoy network feeding false data, Kira is trapped on an aquarium roof with her estranged sixteen-year-old daughter, her ex-husband who quietly consulted for the corporation ...

This program includes excerpts read by the author. One of Atlas & Boots' Top 10 Adventure Travel Books of 2021 A dramatic account of the deadly earthquake on Everest—and a return to reach the summit. On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake...

The Palms at Breakwater Key was built to be a paradise. It was designed to make guests forget they are standing on a fragile barrier island. But the ocean has no memory and no mercy. When a massive storm shifts course and slams into the coast, the luxury tower becomes a deadly trap. The windows breach. The lower floors flood. The power grid fails. Ben Mercer knows the structure better than anyone. As the water rises and the structural integrity begins to fail, he must lead a terrified group of guests to safety. Cut off from the mainland and running out of time, they face a desperate fight ...

The rain never stops. The world is drowning. Survival is everything. When the Rain Came is the first YA book in an all-new, action-packed dystopian adventure series by New York Times bestselling author Matt Eicheldinger. A #8 Publishers Weekly Bestseller! “If we stay here, if we keep wandering...

The ocean was never empty. It was waiting. For forty-three elite passengers, the maiden voyage of the Aurelia was supposed to be the ultimate luxury experience: a front-row seat to the Mariana Trench from behind three inches of aerospace-grade polymer. For marine systems engineer Nora Caldwell, it was a rushed safety inspection she never should have signed off on. At one thousand meters down, the champagne is still pouring when the first impact hits. It isn’t a structural failure. It isn’t a seismic event. Something massive, ancient, and perfectly adapted to the crushing blackness has ...