What Was Hurricane Hazel?
Hurricane Hazel was a hurricane that caused catastrophic damage to the Caribbean, America, and Canada in the 1950s. It was the deadliest overall storm in North America in the 1950s and one of eight Atlantic hurricanes that was powerful enough to have its name retired within that decade. Each of these eight names had its name temporarily retired until 1969, at which time each of them was permanently retired.
Hurricane Hazel is known for being one of the few hurricanes that hit Ontario, still at hurricane strength after ripping through America. This is very unusual, as most hurricanes that hit Canada still at hurricane strength, including Hurricane Dorian and Hurricane Igor, hit Atlantic Canada. Hazel is an anomaly, as it spent much time on land before hitting an inland place within Canada and hitting a populated section of the country.
When Did Hurricane Hazel Occur?
Hurricane Hazel was first discovered and named on October 5, 1954, as it was headed toward the Caribbean, and lasted until the 18th of the same month.
How Powerful Was Hurricane Hazel?
At its peak, Hurricane Hazel had a windspeed of 215 mph (130 mph), which makes it a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale that measures hurricane strength. It hit Myrtle Beach in South Carolina at this strength, and continued to batter the United States, despite weakening. However, since it weakened much slower than most hurricanes once they reach land and was even able to strengthen a little bit for a short period of time, it was able to hit Ontario with sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph) which means that it had been able to maintain the status of a category 1 hurricane while hitting Ontario.
Where Did Hurricane Hazel Strike In Canada?
When Hurricane Hazel first struck Canada, it made a direct hit on Toronto, although it was able to remain relatively strong in its journey north through Ontario, travelling into James Bay and even into Hudson Bay as a post-tropical storm. It finally died upon hitting the area of northern Quebec now known as the Kativik region when it was absorbed by another storm.
How Did Hurricane Hazel Form?
Little is known about the early formation of Hurricane Hazel due to the limitations of the time in tracking storms that began at the other end of the Atlantic. However, it had become a named storm by October 5, hitting the Lesser Antilles and quickly getting to Grenada.
What Path Did Hurricane Hazel Take Before Hitting Toronto?
The first place seriously hit by Hurricane Hazel was the Caribbean. Places hit include the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao), Grenada, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and The Bahamas. It then also hit the mainland United States, smashing into Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, before also hitting North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York before hitting Ontario, still with category 1 hurricane strength.
What Damage Did Hurricane Hazel Do While In Toronto?
Hurricane Hazel is remembered largely for the immense amount of damage that the storm caused in Canada, especially the damage that was done in Toronto. The storm hit the city on October 15, 1954. Due to the lack of hurricanes hitting the area in the past, the city was left almost completely exposed and unprepared for such a storm, leading to plenty of deaths and a lot of damage.
The Humber River, Holland Marsh and Etobicoke Creek were all flooded. This was partially due to a lack of anti-flooding preparedness in the area, and the significant amount of rain that fell shortly before the storm hit. The proximity of Toronto to Lake Ontario didn’t help, as many homes were swept directly into the lake.
Over 50 bridges were either heavily damaged or were temporarily shut down due to the impacts of the storm. Highways 2, 5, 7, 11, 26, 27, 49 and 400 were all impacted, with Highway 400 being the most prominent, as it was left under 3 metres (10 feet) of water.
Raymore Drive was by far the street most impacted by Hurricane Hazel, with 14 homes and approximately 40% of the road swept away into The Humber River, many of the homes still with their occupants inside.
There was little the emergency personnel could do to save people, as they weren’t trained in rescuing people in these specific situations, and not having vital equipment that could help. Firefighters were put in a particularly harsh situation, as some reported being unable to assist the people they could hear screaming while being swept away in their homes. “I felt so helpless, but there was nothing I could do, nothing anybody could do. The water was so deep, up to our chins, and all the firemen were weighed down by clothing and boats and equipment,” Bryan Mitchel, a volunteer firefighter said describing his experience trying to help people on Raymore Drive.
Other cities to be impacted by Hurricane Hazel were Barrie, which also experienced flooding, and Beeton, where two cars were swept off of a bridge, with five people dying as a result. In the country, over 1900 families were left homeless. It is estimated that the total damage was from $25 million to $100 million at the time without accounting for inflation since.
How Many People Did Hurricane Hazel Kill?
81 Canadians were killed in Hurricane Hazel, which is the most of any hurricane in the second half of the 20th century, and the 2nd most of any hurricane in the 20th century behind the 1927 Nova Scotia hurricane. 35 of Hazel’s Toronto deaths were on Raymore Drive.
In addition, 95 people in mainland America, 9 Puerto Ricans, 6 people in the Bahamas, 1 person from Cuba and an estimated 400 – 1000 people from Haiti were killed by Hurricane Hazel.
How Did Toronto Recover From Hurricane Hazel?
Approximately 800 troopers were sent to Toronto to assist in the recovery effort, with 100 members of the Navy also offering their assistance. Both organizations offered in-field aid, as well as donations like blankets, clothing, food and beds.
There were also financial donations that were sent in. Toronto City Council donated $50,000, the nearby city of Hamilton donated $20,000, and Pope Puis XII gave $10,000. Private companies that also gave were Ford Motor Company, Laura Secord Candy Shops, and The British American Oil Company. Over $5,000,000 total was donated through a combination of charities, private companies, and individual contributors.
What Long-Term Impact Did Hurricane Hazel Have On Toronto?
The most notable long-term impact Hurricane Hazel had on Canada was related to infrastructure, conservation, and other attempts to better prepare the country for hurricanes in the future, as it was quickly noticed that the lack of preparation was largely responsible for the immense amount of damage done.
One notable change was that the parts of Raymore Drive that were washed away were not rebuilt, and instead turned into Raymore Park. Riverbanks, especially around the Humber River and Don River, are now engineered with drainage being directed away from properties. Dams were also built to help prevent flooding throughout Toronto as an added defence against flooding.
Hopefully, with all of these added defences, any future hurricanes that hit the city will be contained by these changes.