Hurricane Hazel
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- Canadian politician Hazel McCallion is often referred to in the media as "Hurricane Hazel"
- This article is about the 1954 hurricane; there was also a Tropical Storm Hazel during the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season.
Hurricane Hazel was the worst hurricane of 1954. On the afternoon of October 5, hurricane hunter planes found the eye about 50 miles (80 km) east of the island of Grenada. On October 11, Hurricane Hazel crossed the island of Haiti, leaving a death toll that was estimated as high as 1,000 people. It also destroyed several towns, as well as about 40% of the coffee trees and 50% of the cacao trees.
Hazel left six dead as it crossed the Bahamas. By October 14, just before reaching the Carolinas, hurricane hunter planes found Hazel's winds to have accelerated to 150 mph (240 km), and the storm was moving at an incredible forward speed of 30 mph (48 km/h).
The storm made landfall at the North Carolina/South Carolina border at 11 am on the October 14. It was preceded by a storm surge of 14.5 feet (4.4 m). Hazel wiped out much of Garden City, South Carolina, leaving only two of 275 homes habitable. Coastal damage was severe along the southeastern coast of North Carolina. At Calabash the flood reached 18 feet (5.5 m) above mean low water, coincidentally arriving at the highest lunar tide of the year. Southport and Wrightsville Beach were wrecked.
The storm center became extratropical as it passed over Raleigh, North Carolina (while a strong Category 3 storm), early on October 15. Hazel toppled trees and flooded communities through Virginia and all the way up to the Canadian border. Wind gusts over 100 mph (160 km/h) were recorded as far as upstate New York, where it was still a Category 2 hurricane. In fact, the 113 mph (180 km/h) gust recorded in New York City is the highest wind speed recorded in the city's history. In the United States alone, Hazel had killed 95 people, and had done $251,630,000 (U.S) worth of property damage.
But the storm was not done. It was still strong and laden with moisture. Moving very rapidly, it ran into a cold air mass over Ontario, Canada and gave up its rain. By midnight on the 15th a historic 210 mm (8.5 inches) of rain fell on the watersheds of the Don and Humber rivers and the Etobicoke and Mimico creeks. Mountainous waves lashed the shoreline of Lake Ontario. The Holland Marsh north of Toronto, a major muckland agricultural region, was completely submerged and highways through the marsh were made impassable by the storm.
The flash flooding that followed destroyed 20 bridges, killed 81 people, including five firemen who died in rescue attempts, and left about 2000 families homeless. A wall of water rushing down the Humber River swept away a full block of homes on Raymore Drive, and killed 32 sleeping residents in a period of one hour. Monetary damages in the Toronto area were estimated at $25 million (in 1954 Canadian dollars). Wind damage was also reported, as wind gusts were estimated to be over 150 km/h (90 mph) and sustained winds were as high as 124 km/h (77 mph), meaning it was still a hurricane-strength storm - after over 600 miles on land!
In its aftermath, Toronto and the surrounding communities implemented policies to no longer develop in ravines or floodplains, to avoid the recurrence of death and destruction caused by Hazel.