Hurricane! was edited by Robert Simpson, who has studied severe weather and its impact for more than 60 years. He is a former director of the National Hurricane Center. With Herbert Saffir, he devised the Saffir/Simpson scale for classifying potential damage from hurricanes in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas.
The chapter may be seen at http://www.agu.org/pubs/booksales/hurricane/Chapter_05galveston.pdf
For further information on Hurricane!: Coping with Disaster, see http://www.agu.org/pubs/booksales/hurricane/hurricane_bkoffer.html