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Clifford said the bridge was washed off its mooring by the swollen river-and swung around to block the path of the river. As debris gathered in front of the Ian Clifford of 105 Raymore Avenue, the only Raymore homeowner to be spared by the Humber flood waters, said he 'believed that the Raymore catastrophe was caused by a foot bridge, built for Westmount residents to cross the Humber, providing easier access to Weston. An Etobicoke street, Raymore Drive, opposite Weston, had 14 homes washed away with a loss of 32 lives. Seven people were drowned in Long Branch when their homes were washed into Lake Ontario, and 17 cottages were washed into Highland Creek. The communities of Markham and Woodbridge were cutoff by land and people were found clinging to roofs, floating debris and treetops. Five Metro firemen were drowned in rescue attempts of stranded citizens, including Frank Mercer and Clarence Collins of the Weston department. The greatest single tragedy of the flood was un- doubtedly the destruction of 14 homes on Raymore Drive, Etobicoke, across the Humber from Weston, south of Lawrence Avenue. Hurricane winds whipped the flood waters into powerful torrents. Homes, roads, bridges, utility lines and railway tracks were swept away in the swollen rivers and streams. The communities along the Humber Valley bore the brunt of Hazel's fury. The river was inundated by more than 200 million tons of muddy water along its 58-mile course. The natural channel of the river could not cope. The result was disastrous. The two air masses produced more than nine inches of rain within 24 hours, dumping it on an area centred in northwest Toronto which had already experienced one of the wettest autumns on record. Hazel began as a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean off Haiti but instead of brushing the U.S. gulf coast states and dying in the Atlantic, the storm reached Metro at hurricane strength. Here the warm, moist air mass of the hurricane collided with an eastward moving cold-front. by David S. Brown Staff Writer This week marks the 20th anniversary of the greatest natural disaster ever to hit the Metro area. Hurricane Hazel will be remembered by Weston residents in particular, as the Weston area was among the hardest hit. The hurricane struck Toronto the night of Friday, Oct. 15, 1954, leaving 81 Metro residents dead and 1,868 families homeless. Weston was among worst hit when Hazel struck Metro jt:ibtytfetf r?,'S ~. m a g "t', tt l :' wg $ 1htyrries ' l,, _ w” l 'arsa . Aw. A ' /trt? _ W l v', titrit5 cr T L a) E 's ci, T .. TVV , l , 3 . . ti? o' 1'isii_ " “m d, tr my ' x l V I ( , C _ _k _ tsit'!:," x i _ ' "i" b .2. I. g ' J o _i" ' A 5533*; _ a; , , 'ijjjji,i'is'ira-,tgiEi'u- "m.iFaglb, a a rf'TAtPP" , I" MPedf a "wut gm? tr _ /i"iLjr'g"s,rtr' N ', 'r _a%h"; l _s'fig' ' b.Y, ,, trsgrt, ;., 1 ggn’ . i . z " ' , N 'i:isr'aNll - ttiith " l C :%NN WlMer'- ' - wal..' . ' (ttm * ')r's'i,?i:ki'l,iiiiif5 Two residents, James Patterson and Reg Whib- ley, banged on doors shortly after midnight to warn neighbors that flood waters were dangerously high, but for many the warning was either not in time or was ignored. Flooding was common to Raymore residents. Emergency operations to secure stranded persons, provide shelter for the injured and homeless, and to search for the dead and missing began in the early hours of Saturday morning, as the storm still raged and flood waters ran high. The spirit of co-operation and community duty shown by Weston residents was tremendous. All day Saturday and Sunday, those not seriously affected by the storm brought clothing, blankets and food to shelters set up in the town. bridge, the water was diverted along the lower por- tion of Raymore. Thirty-two people living on Raymore Drive died when the Humber swept away their homes. The five- member Edwards family at 148 Raymore perished and all but one of the Neil family, living with the Edwards, were swept away. Several times, clothing brought to St. Matthias Church in Islington and piled in pews almost reached to the ceiling. As quickly as it could be distributed, the piles were stacked again. Assistance was loaned to Weston from a number of organizations, including the RCAF, naval reserve, Housewives worked as volunteers in the church in shifts, some for as long as 20 hours. Downstairs, hundreds of meals were served to flood victims-all supplied by donated food. Efforts at the church were directed by the West- mount Unit of the Etobicoke Red Cross. Entire families had to be billeted at the church in some cases. In Weston, rescue work was directed by Police Chief A, Webster and volunteer Fire Chief Ernie McGuinnis. Every man in the police and fire departments and all works and public utilities crews were on hand to aid in the rescue, salvage and cleanup operations. DAMAGE TO THIS HOUSE, caused by the rains of Hurricane Hazel was typical of many In Weston. a: l . . a It tis' a tf3t' fr =2 MI tirE2 ttae : TN iaM9, a? Clothing was accepted and sorted at the fire hall, legion hall, town hall and St. John's Church hall. The town hall auditorium was equipped with radio equipment loaned to the Salvation Army to maintain contact with the morgue in Islington and the various volunteer centres. Municipalitiesin the Toronto area and Ontario did, to their credit, learn the lessons of Hurricane Hazel well, and immediately took steps to make certain another hurricane would not wreak such havoc. The generosity of the Weston people did not end with the cessation of immediate rescue operations, however. Weston town council immediately voted to give $5,000 to the Ontario Hurricane Relief Fund, and Weston businessmen opened their own relief fund with a donation of $500. Within a week the businessmen's fund had reached $6,400. The Humber Athletic Club young peoples' group staged a benefit night, Sunday, Oct. M and donated $89.76 to the fund. Westminster United Church donated the proceeds from their annual fall fair to the local relief fund. The $1,800 raised was to have helped reduce the mortgage on the new church. Others were swept compléfely away by a 30-foot wall of water following a burst dam at Woodbridge. RCMP, Forest Hill police, boy scouts, the Salvation Army and Red Cross. The most obvious damage were the bridges along the river at Lawrence Avenue, St. Philip's Road and Albion Road. All three bridges were washed out by the river, but were open to traffic again within a couple of weeks. Apart from the tragic loss of life and property on the banks of the Humber, Weston was not so seriously damaged as other centres, or as first glance might have indicated. Although Weston's power and water were in- terrupted for a short time, they were soon restored and only cables at Lawrence Avenue for phone and hydro service had been badly damaged. The real heroes of the night, to whom Mayor R.C. Seagrave paid special tribute, were the Weston citizens who turned out with boats, trucks, hot coffee and willing hands to aid the officials in their exhausting efforts. gas/i"? Tiiratt “'1 I "' My! 3, The Mirror, October 16, 1974 3 SECOND CLASS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 2337