Hurricane Hazel

Hurricane Hazel was the worst hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the worst hurricanes of the 20th century. Hazel killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States just south of Wilmington, North Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane; it is the strongest hurricane ever recorded to strike so far north on the U.S. East Coast.

Storm history

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 Haiti. It then moved northward across 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/h), 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 in the morning on October 15. The storm center became extratropical as it passed over Raleigh, North Carolina (while a strong Category 3 storm) early on October 15.

The rapid forward speed allowed hurricane conditions to spread farther inland than any other storm in recorded history. Wind gusts over 100 mph (160 km/h) were recorded as far as upstate New York, where Hazel still carried Category 2-force winds. The 113 mph (180 km/h) gust recorded in New York City, over 200 miles (320 km) from the storm's center, is still the highest wind speed recorded in the city's history.

Moving very rapidly, the storm ran into a cold air mass over Ontario, Canada and gave up its moisture — 210 mm (8.5 in) of rain. 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 (960 km) on land. It weakened below hurricane strength after about 18 hours on land about 120 miles (200 km) north of Toronto, at around 45°N latitude. http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1954/HAZEL/track.dat

The storm (finally no longer hurricane-strength) then continued north, into sparsely populated areas, then crossed the Arctic Circle, and finally broke near Scandinavia. http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041009/SPECIALSECTIONS04/41009021

Records

Hurricane Hazel is the only recorded Category 4 hurricane to strike North Carolina or any states further north, although several other hurricanes (including Diana of 1984 and Helene of 1958) have come very close to doing so. There have been 10 recorded Category 3 hurricanes to strike North Carolina since 1851, and several others to strike further north. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracks1851to2004_atl.txt

Impact

Haiti

Hazel's death toll in Haiti 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.

Bahamas

Hazel left six dead throughout the Bahamas.

United States

At landfall, Hazel brought a storm surge of 14.5 feet (4.4 m) to a large area of coastline. 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. The highest storm surge was recorded at Calabash, coincidentally arriving at the highest lunar tide of the year and reaching 18 feet (5.5 m) above mean low water. Southport and Wrightsville Beach were wrecked. Nineteen people were killed in North Carolina, with several hundred more injured; 15,000 homes were destroyed and another 40,000 damaged.

Hazel toppled trees and flooded communities through Virginia and all the way to the Canadian border. Damage was reported throughout the Mid-Atlantic States from northern New York to South Carolina. In the United States alone, Hazel had killed 95 people, and had done US$281 million ($1.94 billion c.2005) worth of property damage.

Canada

Hazel was just as deadly in Canada. By midnight on October 15, a historic 210 mm (8.5 in) 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. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit Canada in recent history, and no natural disaster since has led to such a high death toll on Canadian soil. Monetary damages in Toronto were estimated at dollar|C$" target="_blank" >^*25 million (approx. US$200 million c.2005). Wind damage was also reported. 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.

In all, Hazel killed up to 100 people and caused US$100 million ($700 million c.2005) in damages in Canada.

Retirement

The name Hazel was retired and will never be used for an Atlantic hurricane again; this was before the formal lists were created, so it was not replaced with any particular name.

References

External links

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