The University of Nebraska Press will publish my debut nonfiction book on June 1, 2027.
On July 19, 2018, a tornado ravaged Emily Barske Wood’s hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa, a Midwestern community heavily populated by immigrants. She was in her ninth day as editor of the city’s newspaper when forced to huddle with colleagues in the basement of the Times-Republican building on Main Street.
The storm struck more than 2,000 structures in the town of 27,000 residents. It became apparent that many affected residents were uninsured or underinsured. Some had no choice but to stay in dilapidated homes, others paid contractors only to be scammed, and some insurance payouts didn’t begin to cover repairs. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to offer relief to individuals affected by the tornado because it said the tornado did not meet the “severity and magnitude” criteria to qualify. Despite an appeal from Iowa’s governor, FEMA would only grant public assistance to local government entities to fix public buildings and clean up.
Hidden Storm puts readers in the thick of the disaster and then follows sources for five years after the storm, showing what happens when the systems meant to protect people fail to do so. It also provides an intimate look at the immigrant experience, small towns, and the resilience needed to keep moving forward.
Praise for “Hidden Storm”
“In Hidden Storm Emily Barske Wood tells a story as layered and explosive as the disaster itself. She paints a gripping portrait of the personal toll journalism can take on reporters who live their stories day in and day out as well as of a community grappling with wreckage both seen and unseen.”—Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, author of The Pain Brokers
“In this nuanced portrait of an underreported tornado disaster, Emily Barske Wood explores the long arc of recovery, a politically fraught process in which the most vulnerable victims are often overlooked or underserved. Reported with skill and empathy by a first-person witness heart-scarred by the storm, this book puts a human face on a natural disaster.”—Kim Cross, New York Times best-selling author of What Stands in a Storm and In Light of All Darkness
“This compassionate and rigorously reported chronicle of the destruction and recovery of Marshalltown illuminates the lives of everyday people working to rebuild their town long after national headlines about the devastating tornado have faded. Told through the eyes of a young journalist running her local paper out of a storm-damaged building, Hidden Storm is part love letter to the author’s hometown, part exposé of the failures of FEMA to equitably distribute resources, and part collective portrait of a resilient community. The book offers a prescient warning at a time when extreme weather is on the rise, local journalism is struggling, disaster funding is being cut, and immigrants are under attack. A timely and important read.”—Emily Strasser, author of Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning with a Hidden History
“Hidden Storm is an investigation of small-town America and a meditation on one journalist’s whirlwind first year covering her own hometown. Through dozens of interviews, exhaustive research, and an honest dive into her own psyche, Emily Barske Wood assembles a 360-degree view of an historic—yet overlooked—tragedy and its aftermath. From the trials and triumphs of local immigrant families to the far-flung reach of FEMA policy, she shows in detail what gets swept away and what stands firm in 144 mph winds: not just bricks and mortar, but the intangible fabric of community. In giving one of Marshalltown’s darkest days its due, Barske Wood both celebrates and challenges the town she loves—situating it fully within the broader Marshalltownian and Iowan experience.”—Kyle Munson, lifelong journalist and storyteller and former Iowa columnist
