Shortly after the Carson family moves to the bustling town of Galveston, Texas, Emelise discovers her oldest brother is planning to run away and return to their former home in Arkansas. Emelise attempts to tell her parents when he is leaving, but before she has the chance to do so, they depart for the night, leaving Emelise in charge of her three siblings during a thunderstorm. However, little do the citizens of Galveston know, that thunderstorm quickly turns into one of the worst US Historical Disasters-The Galveston Hurricane. Trapped in their house as the water rises, Emelise and her brothers struggle to survive. Through the pages of her diary, Emelise describes how she desperately tries to keep her brothers alive while searching for her missing parents, all the while bearing the pain and sorrow of being surrounded by death and destruction.