Hurricane Hazel was one of Ontario’s worst modern disasters

Hurricane Hazel grew into one of Ontario’s most destructive storms in modern history--and the storm made landfall more than 1,000 kilometres away. Dozens of people died when the storm’s drenching rains unleashed flash floods throughout portions of the Greater Toronto Area. Gusty winds caused additional damage and power outages. DON’T MISS: Hurricane remnants can bring dangerous weather deep into CanadaHazel began as a tropical storm near Barbados on the morning of Oct. 5, gaining major hurricane status five days later as it turned toward Haiti. The hurricane's destructive winds and flooding rains killed hundreds of people in the country. The storm strengthened further as it accelerated toward the U. S. East Coast, making landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane. Hazel produced wind gusts as high as 225 km/h and a storm surge of 5.5 metres above ground level where it came ashore. A few hours after landfall, Hazel underwent an extratropical transition in a process very similar to what we saw during Sandy in 2012 and Fiona in 2022. The system, now akin to an exceptionally strong nor’easter, raced toward Ontario.