It is not unusual for southern Ontario, Canada, to catch the tail-end
of a hurricane. It happens every year, usually resulting in
strong and sometimes damaging winds and heavy rain. When, on 15
October 1954, Hurricane Hazel blew up the eastern seaboard of the
United States from Haiti, where it had left between four hundred to a
thousand people dead, wind and rain were in the forecast, but no one
was concerned. October is usually wet. Then the storm hit.
In this article, Jim Gifford focuses on Toronto and area, which took
the brunt of the storm. Toronto is located on Lake Ontario;
several creeks and rivers flow through the city to the lake.
Lakeside and riverside homes are considered prime real estate.
When Hazel came calling, many waterways overflowed their banks and
flowed into the streets. Basements, underpasses, and roadways
were flooded. Houses and cars were washed away. Bridges
collapsed. Railroad tracks washed out and trains derailed.
While filming Hazel’s fury, CBC Television crews used their lights to
provide illumination to men in boats on the Humber River as they
searched for survivors on house and automobile roofs and in trees
throughout the night.
When the storm ended the next day, 81
people were dead, 1800 were homeless, and it was estimated that Hazel
had caused some $25 million dollars in damage. Dead livestock
hung from trees, streetcars lay on their sides, homes had been washed
away, and people swept out into Lake Ontario.
Ontarians still talk about the day and night when Hurricane Hazel
visited, pouring about 3.71 cubic kilometres of rain on southern
Ontario in less than forty-eight hours. It is difficult to
imagine that much water falling from the sky, but Gifford relates
first-person eye-witness accounts to give the reader a sense of the
terror and devastation. He also relates stories of neighbours
helping neighbours, unorthodox rescues, and determined bids for
survival. Although it has been more than fifty years since Hazel
passed through, she is not forgotten.