In an area that stretches from Kitchener in the west to Ottawa in the east and from Toronto to Sudbury, the Bell Telephone Company estimated its damages at $400,000. “All sorts of things were tumbling downstream with us–pieces of houses, furniture, and I can remember one huge uprooted tree thrashing around just to the right of our path. Area basements were flooded. Flood control in Ontario and Canada wide became a more important issue. Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. “Shortly after 10:00 that night the phone rang. Whole streets disappeared near the banks of Toronto's rivers, taking with them over 80 victims. Officials worried that many fans would pass through the hole in the fence without paying admission to the game as the break would not be repaired prior to game time. “Just as the last one was getting in the boat, a wave hit and turned it over. The amount of water visible was beyond comprehension. “Gil Read, the owner of the corner store, arrived on the scene and I asked him if he would go with me. There we both were, sitting in the tree like a couple of wet owls, not too proud of our seamanship. At the intersection of Collier and Clapperton streets, the flowing water swept a woman and child off their feet and carried them down the Clapperton Street hill. Hurricane Hazel’s Formation and Path. At this point it already had winds of 160 km/h. We went past it at the right time, otherwise, we would have cracked like an eggshell. Water was pouring over the back, and within thirty seconds we had six bodies in the tree. My son Allan was in the water up to his neck guiding the tow line. The calls were mostly from people whose houses were surrounded by water and who were requesting assistance.
We were all shuttled to safety eventually with a more powerful boat driven by Murray Brown of Murdon Marine, Port Carling. Underpasses at John Street and Victoria and Birch Avenues were flooded and James Street suffered cave-ins. While the hurricane struck Toronto with forceful winds and rain, the destruction was due more to the inadequately prepared flood plains. In an area that stretches from Kitchener in the west to Ottawa in the east and from Toronto to Sudbury, the Bell Telephone Company estimated its damages at $400,000. But then they were swept away.” (GM, October 18, 1954), Streets were flooded (GM, October 16, 1954) and Frank J. Joyce was killed when the car he was driving left Highway 7 near Brampton and plunged into a 14-foot ditch. “In the meantime, Fred Hunt and Howard Morgan, in a boat not much larger than ours, had evacuated two women and we could now see them coming down the river again to pick up two youths who were standing in the upper window about thirty feet from where we sat perched in their tree. When I was racing out the door, my wife, who was eight months pregnant, said, ‘Don’t you be going down the river in that boat.’ There was no way I was going to miss out on this adventure as the Rouge area was quite rural at this time and this sort of thing was one of our pleasures. South end residents were marooned as they were cut off from town by the Grand River which rose 10 inches in 20 minutes flooding the area.
In any event I talked him into it–and I may say here that I would not do it again, at least not in a twelve-foot canoe. This to me was an unbelievable sight, because it was the very highest point of land in the area. It carried with it the front steps of a house on Peel Street, for almost a city block. All he could grab was a light branch that was already starting to give way. Gil made a desperate lunge and managed to get a hold of my ankles and crawl slowly over me and then up into a higher branch of the tree. On This Day: Hurricane Hazel (October 1954).
Seventeen bridges were damaged or destroyed at a cost of $10,000 each. We exchanged greetings, told our story, and chitchatted back and forth with all of us trying to figure out a solution to get their boat, which was broadside, nose upstream without capsizing it.
Please contact us to request a format other than those available.
There was no river; the whole valley was a raging torrent trying to discharge itself into Lake Ontario, but was being partially dammed by the Rouge River railway trestle at its mouth. Hazel passed the James Bay area near Moosonee bringing strong winds and precipitating snow in the northern areas. (GM, October 16, 1954). The wind was now a high-pitched scream. A little further on, there was my boat caught in a wire fence with the motor attached, and of course full of silt. I had several calls from people who wanted to know if this was the end of the world–something which I was not in a position to answer. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived.
“I walked down the road toward our saviour tree, which was an odd-shaped cedar, and the last time I was down that way, it was still there. George Auger, a 22 year old man from Hull Quebec, was electrocuted as he tried to move a tree that had fallen because of Hurricane Hazel, downing a power line. Many of Toronto's beautiful riverside parks are a result of the city's desire to never again put her citizens in the path of this type of disaster.
The Rouge River east of Toronto also experienced flooding from Hazel. Hurricane Hazel's path of destruction. 66 years ago; Archives; 14:26; An American report reveals the major destruction Hurricane Hazel wreaked across the United States before hitting Canada.