60 Years Ago Storm Made Landfall

Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane. After causing 95 fatalities in the US, Hazel struck Canada as an extratropical storm, raising the death toll by 81 people, mostly in Toronto. As a result of the high death toll and the damage caused by Hazel, its name was retired from use for North Atlantic hurricanes.

While most of the casualties and destruction caused by Hurricane Hazel in Canada were focused o Toronto and Holland Marsh, Toronto Township (now Mississauga) saw its share of flooding and destuction, with roads, bridges and dams washed out.