Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck 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, which raised 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.
In Haiti, Hazel destroyed 40 percent of the coffee trees and 50 percent of the cacao crop, which affected the economy for several years. The hurricane made landfall near Calabash, North Carolina, and destroyed most waterfront dwellings. It then traveled north along the Atlantic coast. Hazel affected Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; Maryland; Delaware; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; and New York. It brought gusts near and caused $281 million in damage. When it was over Pennsylvania, Hazel consolidated with a cold front and turned northwest towards Canada. When it hit Ontario as an extratropical storm, rivers and streams in and around Toronto overflowed their banks, which caused severe flooding. As a result, many residential areas in the local floodplains, such as the Raymore Drive area, were subsequently converted to parkland. In Canada alone, over C$135 million of damage was incurred.
The effects of Hazel were particularly unprecedented in Toronto because of a combination of heavy rainfall during the preceding weeks, a lack of experience in dealing with hurricanes, and the storm's unexpected retention of power despite traveling over land. The storm stalled over the Toronto area, and although it was now extratropical, it remained as powerful as a Category 1 hurricane. To help with the cleanup, 800 members of the military were summoned, and a Hurricane Relief Fund was established that distributed $5.1 million in aid.
Meteorological history
On October 5, a tropical wave with tropical-storm force winds was approaching the Lesser Antilles. Due to the potential for tropical storm formation, a Hurricane Hunters plane flew from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to investigate the system. When the plane reached the system, they observed a tropical cyclone about east of the island of Grenada with winds estimated at. The United States Weather Bureau promptly classified the system as Hurricane Hazel. The Atlantic hurricane reanalysis later assessed that Hazel developed at 06:00 UTC on October 5 about east of Grenada. Although the Hurricane Hunters observed hurricane-force winds, the storm had a small eye in diameter and a central barometric pressure of. The winds were therefore revised downward to late on October 5, though it was estimated that the storm attained hurricane status at 00:00 UTC on October 6. At the same time, Hazel made landfall on Grenada with winds of.After entering the Caribbean Sea, Hazel continued to present a small eye and wind diameter. The winds gradually increased as the storm moved westward, parallel to the northern coast of Venezuela. On October 8, the tiny eye increased to a diameter of, while the winds reached, although winds were estimated as high as. That day, the Hurricane Hunters encountered severe turbulence, which hospitalized one crew member and injured another. For the next five days, there were no further flights into the core of the hurricane; However, the planes continued to monitor the storm, with radar imagery indicating that the eye became open and ragged. Late on October 9, it is estimated Hazel intensified into a major hurricane with winds of. Originally, it was estimated that Hazel attained these winds the day prior. The intensification was confirmed on October 10, when aircraft noted a well-defined eye on radar imagery.
File:Hurricane Hazel weather map, October 11, 1954.jpg|thumb|Surface weather map showing Hurricane Hazel approaching Haiti on October 11
On October 10, Hazel slowed in the central Caribbean and turned sharply to the north-northeast toward Hispaniola, steered by an upper-level low. At 09:00 UTC on October 12, the hurricane made landfall near Chardonnières along the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. There were no strong wind readings at landfall, but based on previous radar and aircraft observations the sustained winds were officially estimated at. After moving through the Gulf of Gonâve, Hazel struck northwestern Haiti near Baie-de-Henne at 00:00 UTC on October 13, as a Category 2 hurricane with winds estimated at. Around that time, the hurricane curved more to the north and northwest due to an approaching trough, and the Hurricane Hunters resumed entering the center of Hazel, reporting an eye and hurricane force winds. At 14:00 UTC on October 13, Hazel struck Inagua in the Bahamas with winds of.
After affecting the Bahamas, Hazel accelerated northwest toward the southeastern United States, steered between a trough and a ridge. Hurricanes are generally expected to lose power after going north of Florida due to lower water temperatures. However, Hazel restrengthened as it tracked northward over the Gulf Stream. The Hurricane Hunters were unable to observe the core of the storm until it neared land, reporting an eye in diameter on October 15. Later that day, a ship just off South Carolina reported a central pressure of, which was the lowest in association with the hurricane. At 15:30 UTC on October 15, Hazel made landfall just west of the North Carolina/South Carolina border with a eye, slightly northeast of Myrtle Beach in the latter state. Based on the pressure, a larger than average size, and the fast forward movement, the landfall intensity was estimated at, or a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The eye of Hazel was tracked across several towns in North Carolina as the system continued northward. At 18:00 UTC on October 15, the hurricane became extratropical near Raleigh, and within six hours had passed near Washington, D.C. Its extratropical remnants accelerated to the north through Pennsylvania and New York along an extended cold front. Despite widespread observations across the eastern United States, there continues to be uncertainty in the track of Hazel as an extratropical storm. The Canadian weather service maintains that the original circulation dissipated over western Pennsylvania and a new one formed over western New York. In contrast, the U.S. Hurricane Research Division later assessed the circulation as becoming elongated but continuous. On October 16, the storm crossed into Ontario and over the Toronto region. Shortly thereafter, the former Hurricane Hazel dropped to gale-force winds after moving almost over land. The storm slowed and turned northward, passing over James Bay early on October 17. After turning to the northeast, into what is today known as the Kativik region of extreme northern Quebec, the remnants of Hazel were absorbed by a larger extratropical storm over Canada on October 18.
Preparations
On October 6, small craft warnings were issued for the Dutch islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, despite predictions that Hazel would pass to the north; these warnings were canceled a day later. After the storm turned northward, tropical cyclone warnings were posted for Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the waters of the Mona Passage. Small craft near Jamaica were advised to head for port ahead of the storm. The U.S. Navy completed extensive preparations at its Guantanamo Bay base, ordering about 1,000 civilians into hardened, fortified Quonset huts, flying aircraft out of the storm's path, and positioning surface ships out at sea.On October 14, the United States Weather Bureau issued a warning for the Carolinas, with the caveat that the worst of the hurricane was expected to stay offshore. Instead, the storm took a sharp northwest turn and headed toward land. By evening of the same day, the storm was forecast to make landfall near the Carolinas border. Further forecasts expected Hazel to lose its power and dissipate over the Allegheny Mountains.
In her book Hurricane Hazel, Canadian journalist Betty Kennedy argued that in Canada, the impressions that Hazel was "the best-kept secret in town" and that it was a "fully documented meteorological event that should have taken nobody by surprise" both "paradoxically contain a great deal of truth". Meteorologists predicted that if Hazel merged with the cold front, the storm would not lose intensity, but would instead potentially strengthen. Two Special Weather Bulletins were issued by the Dominion Weather Office, but since it was expected that the storm would pass east of Toronto, few other warnings were given and there were no evacuations, which increased the eventual property damage and loss of life. The forecast called for high winds between, with only occasional showers. On lakes Erie and Ontario, ships received warnings of strong winds, and the predicted wind speeds ranged from. Toronto Hydro called in standby crews as heavy winds were forecast, although they were almost sent home at one point due to a lull in the storm.
There was significant rainfall in the Toronto area in the two weeks prior to Hazel, so the ground was already saturated. Few people in Canada had any experience with hurricanes, since it was unheard of for them to travel as far north and inland as Toronto. Kennedy also notes that if "Toronto had been about to face a blizzard, or was threatened by a 14-inch snowfall, that would have been something understandable. This was different. This was the unknown, the unfamiliar, the totally unexpected crisis. Hurricanes belonged in the tropics."
Impact
Caribbean
On October 8, two crew members on reconnaissance aircraft were injured due to turbulence while observing Hazel; one requiring hospitalization. The ABC Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, located north of Venezuela, received rough winds and rains of up to when the intensifying cyclone passed to the north. Flash flooding in Aruba and Curaçao destroyed a bridge and several water dams and resulted in losses of $350,000. Puerto Rico suffered its worst flooding since 1899 as a result of the hurricane. Due to timely warnings, only nine people were killed, but infrastructure, buildings, and agricultural areas suffered serious damage, and over 11,000 people were evacuated from flooded areas.In Haiti, Hazel brought flash floods which destroyed numerous villages, and high winds which caused considerable damage to major cities. The death toll was estimated to be as high as 1,000 people; most of the casualties drowned when the water flowed in a flood down the mountains, some of which were as high as. The situation was exacerbated by deforestation, which lessened the ability of the soil to hold water. Haiti's South Peninsula took the brunt of the storm: the largest town, Aux Cayes, reported at least 200 casualties, while the second-largest town of Jérémie was reported to have been swept into the sea, with at least 200 more casualties. Damage in Aux Cayes was estimated to be $500,000. Estimates of people left homeless in the wake of Hazel are as high as 100,000. Hazel destroyed about 40 percent of the coffee trees and 50 percent of the cacao crop, affecting the country's economy for several years. Objects from Haiti, such as bowls, were reported to have been transported by the hurricane to the Carolinian coast.
West of Haiti, the hurricane brought hurricane-force winds to Cuba. A fisherman on the eastern tip of Cuba was killed by rough seas while trying to secure his boats. Since the hurricane passed largely east of the Bahamas, only minor damage was reported there. Hazel passed directly over Inagua, where it claimed six lives when a sailboat capsized while taking shelter from the storm.