Al Roker's new book, "The Storm of the Century," reads like a blockbuster movie script.
But the NBC "Today" show weatherman says the drama, heartache and strife of the Great Hurricane of 1900 that hit Galveston, Texas, is all too real.
The book was released Tuesday. It comes a few weeks before the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29.
Roker uses newspaper clippings, oral histories and archival records to piece together the devastation of Galveston -- once called the "Paris of the Gulf Coast."
Roker weaves the story of Galveston's development and descriptions of the U.S. media and political landscape.
Roker estimates about 10,000 people were killed in the storm that made landfall on Sept. 8, 1900.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
