Alas, Atlas III

Atlas of Florida.
Edward A. Fernald, Elizabeth D. Purdum, eds., James R. Anderson, Peter A. Krafft, cartographers.
280 pages. Gainesville: U. Press of Florida.
US$29.95

This Floridiana compendium, produced by FSU’s Institute of Science and Public Affairs, offers stunning photos and illustrations of America’s fourth fastest growing state. As were its predecessors, this edition is another pleasant reference tool, with chapter headings that are deceiving, for each is a lengthy almanac of its own.

Outside the regular chapters, the Atlas includes a sure-to-please index on the origins of Florida’s place names. Where else can you discover that Florida’s rich native linguistic connection provided the words for six of the state’s 87 counties (Alachua, Okaloosa; Okeechobee; Sarasota; Suwannee, and Wakulla)? Their definitions link us to the aboriginal people’s affinity with water, in contrast to the historic tags given many counties in honor of Spanish, French or British explorers, or Catholic saints.

No one in Florida can escape the annual hurricane season, Florida’s most dangerous natural hazard. “During this century over 3,000 inhabitants of the state lost their lives during these intense tropical storms, almost 2,000 in one hurricane alone,” one reads. Thus, the storm tide-zone illustrations and evacuation times in the given scenario of a Category Three hurricane become relevant. The longest estimated evacuation times, by-the-way, are in Key West and in the Tampa Bay, Ft. Myers, Ft. Pierce, and Pensacola areas.