Rachel Dresbeck

I bought this book online, based on the title alone. Had I checked it out in person, I probably would not have bought it, because I have read most of the publications cited in the bibliography. It is only fair to admit that I have 71 books tagged "disaster" in my LT catalog (as of the date of this review). Someone new to Oregon, or less obsessed with disasters, may find this a useful overview.

The author summarizes 20 disasters, including the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which is actually in Washington, but is visible from Portland. For most types of disasters (forest fires, floods, winter storms, climbing accidents, shipwrecks), the author includes an early severe example on record, and a more recent example. The author’s choices are sometimes puzzling – for example, she covers the 1948 Vanport flood and the 1964 Willamette River flood, but not the more severe 1894 flood on the Columbia.

The reports are brief summaries, averaging 10 pages per event. The short sentences make for choppy reading, and the limited vocabulary sometimes leads to imprecise descriptions.

Still, having all of these events summarized in one place is instructive. The one thing anyone should get from this book is the idea that weather in Oregon is extremely variable, and what has happened can happen. Many of these events were weather related (excluding the 1964 tsunami, the 1978 crash of Flight 173, and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens), but most of them became disasters as a result of errors in judgment. If the weather looks threatening, should one go ahead with a planned climb (or fishing trip), having spent months planning and training? Read this book and you might decide caution is in order.… (meer)