This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
Hurricane Hazel
The chances of a hurricane are low, but never zero, even as far inland as Ontario.
Seventy years ago this week, though, the unthinkable happened.
Hurricane Hazel, an unpredictable tropical storm, arrived the evening of Friday, Oct. 15, 1954.
No one was prepared for a catastrophic weather event, such as a hurricane, and the effects were devastating.
At the end of the storm, 81 Canadian lives had been lost and damage was estimated at $125 million (USD).
The worst damage occurred in the Toronto and Holland Marsh areas, with Highway 400 the most affected road.
The surge water was almost 10 feet deep where the highway passed through the marsh, and at the Cookstown interchange the roads were washed out in both directions, reportedly stranding 350 people at Ontario's first highway service centre, which had opened earlier that year.
Three culverts between Cookstown and Barrie were also destroyed in the storm. Closer to home, the Willow Creek bridge, part of the new Barrie bypass built in 1950, was demolished.
Washouts and flooding occurred throughout the county.
Road travel wasn’t the only transportation impacted by the raging storm. In Allandale, all trains ceased running shortly after the torrential rains started. The incoming train from Toronto was stopped at Aurora – there was no busing to Barrie as the highway was flooded. Passengers remained on board the train as the storm raged.
The Ontario Department of Highways worked tirelessly to restore the Toronto-to-Barrie 400 superhighway. It would be Monday before a portion of Highway 400 opened as far as Bradford.
It was Monday, as well, before the first northbound train left and the first southbound train arrived in Allandale.
The photos of the Cumberland Street area, just south of the Allandale rail yards, show vividly the intensity and extent of the flooding resulting from the hurricane’s visit to the town.
Astonishingly, in spite of the deadly storm, in the sports world it was almost business as usual. The hardiest of local fans showed up during the storm to watch a thrilling inter-squad hockey match of players who had outlasted the Barrie Flyers training camp.
Due to the understandably low spectator turnout that night, team owner Hap Emms, arranged a second preview game, against Owen Sound, scheduled for the following Tuesday.
In golf, the annual fall ‘stag’ at the Barrie Golf Club proceeded the day after the hurricane. The normally gentle Kidd’s Creek, engorged by the storm, had ravaged parts of the course and taken out bridges. For the club event, golf was restricted to the top five holes, played twice, for a round of 10 holes.
The course manager anticipated the repairs to the golf course would be completed by the Halloween masquerade dance on Oct 30.
Help and recovery for Hurricane Hazel victims came in all shapes and sizes. Neighbours helped each other pump out basements and clear debris. Livestock was rounded up and returned to farms. Money, food and clothing were collected and distributed to those who were in need.
Sunday Oct. 17 was to be the 89th anniversary service of Central United Church, but plans for the celebration looked bleak. Water had poured in their Toronto Street door, almost submerging the furnaces in the basement.
The day after the storm, dedicated volunteers cleaned the mud from the basement floor once the water had receded and fired up the furnaces. All the stock from their cancelled rummage sale had been spared. It was packed up and sent to Bradford to help the hurricane victims in that area.
The congregation was able to proceed with their anniversary service, where they collected food donations which were trucked to Bradford that very Sunday afternoon.
Later that week, in the auditorium of St. Joseph’s high school, the Moose Flood Bingo would raise money for hurricane victims.
One of the largest community fundraisers was the Flood of Dollars, a benefit variety concert sponsored by the Lions Clubs, and broadcast live on CKBB radio from the Barrie District Collegiate Institute auditorium. Seats were free to the public, to help create a concert ‘feel’ to the five-hour radio program donated by CKBB.
Listeners to the radio show were encouraged to call in their pledge in support of the flood victims. Lions Club members with cars were standing by at French Motors, dispatched to collect donations as the calls were received.
The event was a tremendous success, largely due to the Barrie Collegiate Band, under the direction of W.A. Fisher. Callers made special requests of the orchestra in exchange for their donation, and, even when the band had never played a particular tune before, they rallied, giving a great performance and earning many more donations for their efforts.
The audience was entertained by a number of performers including the C.G.E. (Canadian General Electric) Barrie Works Glee Club, the Lazy Valley Ranch Boys, Rhoda Young’s monologues, Harold Dempsey and the Orillia Barbershop Chorus, Margaret and Marian Gough, Bill Bell’s Liberace impersonation, and Toronto artist Art Talbot on the piano accompanying famous Canadian TV and radio star blues singer Phyllis Marshall, granddaughter of Barrie resident Mrs. William Rolling.
Barrie’s own pianist Lloyd Tufford accompanied singers Mr. and Mrs. John Sturgess. The show raised more than $5,600 for the flood fund.
As we pause and remember the great storm of 1954, know that the name ‘Hazel’ was retired and will never be used again for an Atlantic tropical storm, due to the significant loss of life and severe damage in the Caribbean, Canada and the United States, caused by Hurricane Hazel.
