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Hurricanes have fascinated Rick Schwartz for nearly four decades. Surprised and frustrated by a dearth of written material on the subject, the Rockville native decided to tackle the task himself. For six years, he pored over library microfilm and conducted some 100 interviews to produce "Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States: A Surprising History from Jamestown to the Present."

The book begins with an overview of hurricane basics like structure, frequency, duration, strength and historical forecasting. It goes on to give exhaustive explanations, complete will historical photos, maps and charts that outline Mid-Atlantic hurricane history by century, spanning from the 1600s to present day.

It is filled with startling photographs of Mother Nature's wrath — overturned houses and cars, collapsed bridges and entire communities submerged in water.

Schwartz says the most surprising thing he learned during his research is that there is enough Mid-Atlantic hurricane history to fill 400 pages.

"I didn't think we had much of a history at all," he says, noting that his book doesn't even address all the hurricanes that have hit the area.

Schwartz, who attended Richard Montgomery High School, says his interest in hurricanes began as a teenager living in New Jersey. A hurricane threatened to hit his town, but turned away at the last minute.

"I couldn't believe there could be a hurricane in New Jersey," he recalls.

While attending Montgomery College, he joined a meteorology club and spent hours with friends studying, debating and chasing storms.

To pay the bills, Schwartz, who now lives in Alexandria, works for a government contractor, but the study of weather and its history is his passion.

Schwartz warns that historical patterns indicate that the Mid-Atlantic region is likely to face more ravaging storms.

"Public complacency is difficult to avoid after years of sparse hurricane activity," Schwartz says. "Right now, hurricanes seem to be someone else's problem. But, to be certain, Hurricane Alley changes. The Mid-Atlantic will likely be targeted soon. History suggests that the odds are greater than 50 percent that something significant will occur during the 2008 season."

Hurricane history is repetitive, going through active and inactive phases that last about 30 years, Schwartz says. People need to realize that the Mid-Atlantic is entering an active phase, and destructive hurricanes probably will occur during the next decade.

"My book lets people know what can happen, and in that way, they have motivation to prepare," Schwartz says, adding that people should take basic emergency preparedness precautions, like having canned food, bottled water and a crank radio available from August through October.

Recording hurricane history is important, Schwartz explains, so there is something with which to compare future weather patterns.

He self-published to retain control over the finished product.

"I waited 40 years for a book like this," he says.

After that wait plus the time spent on research, he didn't want a publishing company changing his vision.

Schwartz would like to write a historical book someday, but for now, he's still recovering from this project.

"I'm catching my breath," he says.

"Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States" can be purchased at major online booksellers or by visiting www.middleatlantic

hurricanes.com or by visiting www.bluediamondbooks.com.