Canada was severely impacted by Hurricane Hazel, which included 81 deaths and C$137,552,400 ($1,597,351,461.97 in 2025) in damages. Hazel, the deadliest and costliest storm of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season, reached Toronto, Ontario by the evening of October 15, 1954. It peaked as a category 4 storm, but by the time it had reached Canada, it was an extratropical category 1 storm after merging with an existing cold front south of Ontario. An area of high pressure to the north east caused Hazel to stall over Toronto and to lose most of its moisture.
The worst-affected areas were communities near the Humber River, Holland Marsh, and Etobicoke Creek. Prone to flooding, the Humber River raced downstream from Woodbridge when an earthen dam failed. In the weeks prior to Hazel, Toronto had received copious amounts of rain, and the soil could not hold as much as of rain; consequently, over 90% of it went into Toronto's waterways. The Humber heavily flooded Weston, and killed 35 people in Raymore Drive. Holland Marsh was severely flooded; while no one was killed, the economic losses were severe, as the region's crops were harvested but not collected. In the neighbourhood of Long Branch, the Etobicoke Creek killed seven people and swept numerous dwellings into Lake Ontario. Toronto's infrastructure also took a major hit, with as many as 50 bridges being washed out by the rising waters.
The situation was made worse by the lack of preparedness and awareness. Torontonians did not have prior experience with hurricanes, and the storm as a whole proved to be extremely unpredictable; even the arrival of Hazel came as a surprise. Also, the low-lying areas near the Humber were mostly residential, which were among the worst-affected during the storm. In fact, after Hazel, residential development in areas along Toronto waterways was prohibited, and they became parks instead.
To help with the cleanup, the army was summoned. The destruction in Canada, as well as in the United States and Haiti caused the name Hazel to be retired, and it will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. Since the name was retired before the creation of formal lists, it was not replaced with any particular name.
Background
Hurricane Hazel formed on October 5 east of the Lesser Antilles. It entered the Caribbean Sea and intensified, becoming a major hurricane by October 9. After turning abruptly northward, Hazel struck Haiti, killing more than 1,000 people. The hurricane then turned back to the northwest and accelerated. On October 14, just before reaching Carolinas, hurricane hunter planes found the hurricane's winds to have accelerated to , which made it a Category 4 storm, and moving at a high forward speed of . The storm made landfall near the North Carolina/South Carolina border by the morning on October 15. Hazel quickly transitioned into an extratropical cyclone as it interacted with a cold front. Hazel accelerated to over upon making landfall, moving over western Pennsylvania and New York State. Against meteorologists' predictions, Hazel had not lost much intensity, with winds nearing in parts of Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Before leaving the United States, the storm had claimed 95 lives, most of which were drowning casualties. On October 16, Hazel moved crossed into Ontario, passing near Toronto. After turning to the northeast, into what is today known as the Kativik region of extreme northern Quebec, the remnants of Hazel were absorbed by a larger extratropical storm over Canada on October 18.
Preparations The hurricane was originally forecast to lose power over the Allegheny Mountains, and two Special Weather Bulletins issued by the Dominion Weather Office expected Toronto to be mostly spared albeit with a caveat that if Hazel merged with an existing cold front south of Ontario, severe weather would result. High winds, between , with only occasional showers as a result of Hazel were forecast, and in Toronto, the fact that a hurricane was arriving was not mentioned on television or radio stations. Ships on Lakes Erie and Ontario received warnings about strong winds, but the predicted wind speeds ranged from .
Since the storm was expected to pass east of Toronto, few measures were taken. With few people in Canada having any experience with hurricanes, as storms that went that far inland northwest being virtually unheard of, very few warnings were given, and there were no evacuations prior to the storm, as it was expected that it would pass east of the city. Areas along rivers and creeks were particularly vulnerable to flooding, as homes were built in their floodplains. Toronto Hydro had called in standby crews as heavy winds were forecast, but they were almost sent home at one point because of a lull in the storm.
Impact
In the few weeks leading up to Hazel striking the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the region had received above-average rainfall. When the storm arrived, the water table was already saturated. As a result, most of the precipitation, with estimates going as high as 90%, simply ran off into rivers and creeks in Toronto, which raised water levels by as much as six to eight metres. As a result, anything built in the floodplain of a major waterway was either inundated or simply swept away. In a city not used to heavy flooding, there had been no experience with the natural disasters like hurricanes, which resulted in a lack of preparedness and greater loss of life.
Although all of Southern Ontario received heavy rainfall as a result of Hazel, the Greater Toronto Area, in addition to being particularly vulnerable beforehand, received the most. Snelgrove, Ontario, near Brampton, received the most rain, at , and both Snelgrove and Brampton reported between 9 p.m. and midnight EDT on October 15. Within the GTA, there was considerable disparity in the amount of rain received, with the west end receiving considerably more than the east end. Areas southeast of Danforth Avenue, which starts immediately east of the Don River, in the east end of the city, reported only that day, with rainfall totals decreasing when going east. On the other hand, Malton Airport (now Lester B. Pearson International Airport), in the west end of the city, reported of rain, with the totals increasing until they erre past Brampton.
No natural disaster since has led to such a high death toll, 81 people, in Canada. In addition, over 4,000 families were left homeless. The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada estimates the total cost of Hurricane Hazel for Canada, taking into account long-term effects such as economic disruption, the cost of lost property, and recovery costs, as being C$137,552,400 (2022: $1,425,646,253.71).
Infrastructure
With river and stream levels rising, Toronto's infrastructure took a heavy hit. Not built to withstand serious flooding, as it is in a climate area that does not see exceptionally prolonged or heavy rainfall, over 50 bridges, many part of important highways, were heavily damaged or put out of commission after high water itself washed them out or debris in the water smashed them. Numerous roads and railways were also washed out.
Highway 400 was arguably the most-affected road. The highway passes directly through Holland Marsh north of Toronto, where it was under as much as of water in some places when as much of water backed up from Lake Simcoe. At the Cookstown Cloverleaf, the road was washed out in both directions, which left 350 people stranded at a service station. Finally, between Cookstown and Barrie, three culverts carrying the roads were destroyed. Many other highways were affected by bridge and other structural damages, which included Highways 2, 5, 7, 11, 26, 27, and 49. There were a few fatalities from car crashes; for instance, one person died when his car plunged into a cave-in on Highway 7. Communities affected by bridge washouts included Scarborough (10 entire bridges and six bridge approaches), Markham (11 in their entirety and three approaches), and North York (seven in their entirety). The damage to roads and bridges caused long-term economic and transportation problems. With Hazel arriving relatively close to winter, only temporary fixes could be made, which did not withstand the spring thaw.
Railways were also affected by the rising waters. Passenger trains were disrupted, and there were two fatalities when a train hit a washout near Southampton.
Mariners on Lakes Erie and Ontario heeded warnings and avoided any loss of life. As a result of high waves on Lake Ontario, the National Yacht Club incurred over C$100,000 (2009: over C$800,000) in damage. At the base of Etobicoke Creek, a boathouse incurred over $30,000 (2009: approximately $250,000) in damage, and 25 boats were swept into the lake at Oakville, including the Harbour Master's boat. That boat became a ward of the court after the salvaging company claimed ownership, but the previous owners disagreed and argued that the vessel was not abandoned since it was lost as a result of an "Act of God"
Holland Marsh The Holland Marsh, a muck crop farming region, is located in a bowl-shaped valley directly south of Lake Simcoe, near Bradford. Unlike the flash floods in rivers and creeks to the south, the flooding of Holland Marsh was slow, which allowed many people to escape to Bradford, which is located on a hill, and avoid drowning. The nature of the flood caused there to be few casualties, but the flooding itself was severe. In the northern part of the marsh, 1.2 to 6.1 m (four to 20 ft) of water backed up from the lake, and on the opposite end, between of water backed up from the Holland River and the Schomberg Creek.
Property damage was particularly severe: Allan Andreson, a CBC reporter, described that the "marsh was just like one vast lake. All you could see in the distance sticking out of the water was the steeple of the Springdale Christian Reformed Church." Highway 400, which bisects the marsh, was under five to ten feet [1.5–3.0 metres] of water. The majority of the properties in the marsh were inundated with water, and homes and their contents were either seriously damaged or destroyed. Many of the houses were contaminated by the flood or the rotting vegetables (the crop was recently harvested) and became unfit for habitation. A few homes were taken off their foundations by the waters and floated around the marsh. One, the DePeuter residence, which contained the parents, 12 children and a cat, spent the night floating on the marsh for . As a result of the flooding, 3,000 people were left homeless as of the marsh became a lake.
Like the property losses, the economic ones were also hard. While most of the year's crop had been harvested by mid-October, it had not been brought in was either submerged or swept away by the flood. It is estimated that more than 500 000 bags of onions, a similar amount of celery, and millions of bushels of other crops were taken by the flood, and were left to rot in the water. No one died at Holland Marsh, but total damage was up to $10,000,000 (2009: $81,600,000).
Humber River
The Humber River, in the west end of the city, caused the most destruction as a result of an intense flash flood. Located in a glacial trench, the river in some areas occupies the full width of the trench, but in other areas, most of the trench is a floodplain, which was heavily urbanized and deforested at the time. Some sort of flood control had been proposed for the Humber River, but none existed, and with most of the rains running off directly into the river, a flash flood ensued, which was especially exacerbated by the steepness of the river.