Postcard Memories is a series of historic views and photos of Bradford West Gwillimbury, a trip down memory lane on a Saturday morning.
This week marked the 65th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel.
On Oct. 15, 1954, after a week of soaking rain, Hurricane Hazel brought “unprecedented rains” to the area. The floodwaters overtopped the dykes that ring the Holland Marsh, causing extensive flooding - damaging about 500 homes, destroying equipment, displacing over 1,000 people, and devastating crops. The floodwaters were estimated at 10' to 12’ (3 to 3.66 metres) deep, west of Hwy. 400.
One report stated that 500,000 bags of onions, an equal number of celery, and numerous other crops were lost. Total damages were estimated at $10 million. Rotting vegetables added to the difficulty of clean up, according to Environment Canada: “The water emitted a horrible stench from the floating rotting vegetables… Pumps had to contend with vegetables clogging their intakes.”
A 1994 article in a Toronto newspaper, looking back at the disaster, noted that “Highway 400 and the area to the west were covered with 1’ to 2’ of bags of onions, potatoes, wagon platforms, outhouses, fuel tanks, gas tanks, boxes, crates, anything that would float.”
Despite the damage, only one life was lost in the marsh. The body of 40-year-old John Naggi, described as a recluse, was discovered just before Christmas that year in the frozen canal.
Details from the Archives at the BWG Public Library, Environment Canada archives, and Governor Simcoe Slept Here: The legacy of West Gwillimbury. The archives contain a number of wonderful photos of the Marsh following Hazel, published in the Toronto Telegram.
