Book excerpt: True accounts of major disasters in Texas history are retold in this engagingly written collection. In this part of the country tornadoes are a frequent threat, but in addition to the many violent twisters, Texas residents have experienced fires, floods, drought, blizzards, shipwrecks, and other devastating events, including a yellow fever epidemic in 1867, which earned that year the grim moniker "The Year of Death." Each story reveals not only the circumstances surrounding the disaster and the magnitude of the devastation but also the courage and ingenuity displayed by those who survived and the heroism of those who helped others, often risking their own lives in rescue efforts.