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Contributed by Neal Dorst

There is an undeniable drama to hurricanes; their massive scale affecting the lives of thousands, the foreshadowing of impending doom, and their ponderous pace as they approach the shore. This has made them ideal plot elements in many fictional works. Below is an admittedly partial list of some novels, plays, and movies which have used hurricanes as a major dramatic element.

• The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare
  Inspired by a 1609 hurricane which shipwrecked the Sea View on the island of Bermuda, in the opening act Prospero magically conjures up a sea storm to bring a ship to his island exile.

• "Wreck Of The Hesperus" (1839) By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  Although the old Sailor fears a hurricane the storm in this poem is more likely a nor'easter.

• Chita : A memory of Last Island (1889) by Lafcadio Hearn
  In this novella a young Cajun girl survives the 1856 hurricane that wiped out the resort on Last Island and is raised by a Spanish fisherman on the Louisiana coast.

• Son of the Carolinas (1898) by Elizabeth Carpenter Satterthwait
  A story of a hurricane striking the Sea Islands off the Georgia coast.

• Wed by Mighty Waves (1901) by Sue Greenleaf
  A romantic novel set against the horrors of the Galveston hurricane.

• Typhoon (1903) by Joseph Conrad
  In this short story a steamer blunders into the teeth of a typhoon in the South China Sea.

• Hurricane (1935) by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
  The duo that wrote the "Mutiny on the Bounty" trilogy reunited to bring us this tale of a devastating typhoon in French Polynesia which alters the lives of the residents of the island of Manukura. This novel was made into a movie twice, once in 1938 starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall and a remake in 1979 with Mia Farrow and Dayton Ka'ne. The first effort had a musical hit with the song "The Moon of Manukura". In order to capitalize on the first film's popularity another studio in 1940 paired Lamour with Robert Preston in "Typhoon" (not based on the Conrad story), and in 1951 Jon Hall and Marie Windsor starred in "Hurricane Island", but there may not be an actual hurricane in "Hurricane Island".

• Their eyes were watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston
  The principle characters survive the Lake Okeechobee hurricane of 1928 only to suffer the devastating aftermath.

• Storm (1941) by George R. Stewart
  Actually this novel is not about a hurricane, but an extratropical cyclone. However, I give it an honorable mention here since it depicts a Junior Meteorologist who has a personal habit of naming storms. This helped to popularize the idea of naming hurricanes. It was made into a Disney TV movie "A Storm named Maria" in 1958, and inspired the song "They Call the Wind Maria" from 1951's Lerner and Lowe play "Paint Your Wagon".

• Key Largo (1948) by Richard Brooks Directed by John Huston
  This movie starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and was loosely based on a 1939 play by Maxwell Anderson. Mobster Edward G. Robinson holds several people hostage in a Keys' hotel as a hurricane bares down on them.

• Slattery's Hurricane (1949) by Herman Wouk
  Set in post-World War 2 Miami, a man seeks redemption by flying a hurricane reconnaissance mission for a Navy buddy. This was made into a movie in 1949 with Richard Widmark and Veronica Lake.

• The Caine Mutiny (1951) by Herman Wouk
  The climactic scene aboard the USS Caine takes places as Halsey's fleet has its fatal run-in with Typhoon Cobra. Wouk adapted his novel in 1953 for a play starring Lloyd Noland and John Hodiak and for the movies in 1954 with Humphrey Bogart and Van Johnson.

• A Journey to Matecumbe (1961) by Robert Lewis Taylor
  Tells the tale of two young men traveling the post-bellum South to search for their fortunes in the Florida Keys. Along the way they dodge Klansmen and survive a hurricane. This was adapted by Disney Studios in 1976 into the film "Treasure of Matecumbe" starring Robert Foxworth and Joan Hackett.

• Hurricane in the Keys (1968) by Henry Hayes Stansbury
  This self-published novel tells of a Category Five hurricane threatening the Florida Keys and the President of the United States' decision to order the seeding of the storm.

• Devil Walks on Water (1969) by John F. Murray
  A novel based on accounts of survival from the 1938 New England hurricane.

• Hurricane Hunters (1972) by William C. Anderson
  This novel concentrates on the lives and loves of Air Force Hurricane Hunter pilots. It was adapted into a made-for-TV movie in 1974 called "Hurricane" starring Martin Milner and Frank Sutton.

• Condominium (1977) by John MacDonald
  Residents of a condo in southwest Florida are beset by unscrupulous real estate developers, faulty construction, and a Gulf hurricane.

• Cat Five (1977) by Robert P. Davis.
  As a Category Five hurricane menaces ritzy Palm Beach, hurricane researchers are torn apart by a blistering love triangle. OK, this one made me laugh.

• Storm Center (1983) by Elizabeth Verner Hamilton
  Novel based on her family's accounts of surviving the Great Hurricane of 1893 hitting Charleston, SC.

• Stormy Weather (1996) by Carl Hiassen
  In this novel inspired by Hurricane Andrew, people's lives in the wake of a devastating hurricane are further stressed by con men, shady contractors, and a former Lt. Governor.

• One August Day (1998) by Charlotte Morgan
  Revisits Hurricane Camille in 1969 and its impact on the lives of the people of the Gulf Coast.

• Storm Tracker (1999) directed Harris Done
  In this made-for-TV movie starring Martin Sheen and Luke Perry, a University of Miami meteorology professor gets involved in a renegade Air Force project to control hurricanes.

• Second Wind (1999) by Dick Francis
  Francis takes a break from the horsey set to spin a yarn about a BBC TV meteorologist who goes on a hurricane hunting joy ride.

• Windows on Heaven (2000) by Ron Rozelle
  A novel based on accounts from the 1900 Galveston hurricane in which over 6000 people perished.

  Last updated August 13, 2004
  

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