Hurricane Hazel

Photos curated by WHS archivist Martin Proctor.

Looking south from Dee Avenue with the CNR bridge in the background

A lovely couple

Pat Livingston writes: “The little white house was Mr. and Mrs. Bayton’s - a lovely couple. This house was right at the bottom of Maplebush, where we lived. The other 2 were along Faifglen from Dee to Cardell.”
The view is looking south from Dee Avenue.

It was a big house

Pat Livingston: “The white house was the Slack family’s and it was a big house. They had lots of kids. Gord Haines was a good friend of ours on Dee, and the Collette family were related to my Aunt.”
Looking west from Dee Avenue.

Looking west from Maple Bush Avenue

South from Fair Glen Crescent

Chills every time I see this

Pat Livingston writes: “It gives me the chills every time I see this. Yes it is the flats encompassing Cardell and especially Fairglen Cresc.
Those two houses belong to my friends. Mr. Ryan might be one of them. Fairglen extended all along the river bank from Cardell to Dee Ave.
The row of houses along Fairglen all went. We watched this all happening but were powerless to help. My Dad and I drove along Fairglen, asking people to get in our panel truck when the water was about 2 feet deep. They refused and said they had been through this before. We went down Dee across Fairglenn to Cardell and up the hill. A few hours later, all hell broke loose, and we could only watch - all because the current was too strong to launch our neighbour's boat. It started to take it away so it had to be hauled out.”
Looking southwest from Cardell Avenue.

How high the floodwaters were

Martin Proctor: “Edgar Parsons took this photo on the 16th of October 1954 looking northwest towards the old Wadsworth Arch Bridge and the Weston Golf and Country Club beyond the bridge. The image clearly illustrates just how high the floodwaters were on the Humber River during Hurricane Hazel. ”

Bridge had survived the deluge

Martin Proctor: “While the Wadsworth Arch Bridge (forerunner to St. Phillip's Bridge) had survived the deluge relatively undamaged, the raised earth and roadway that formed the western approach to the bridge was washed away along with a great deal of earth in the river basin. The raised objects beyond the bridge are part of the sewer system that usually would have been mostly below ground level.

The floodwaters followed the line of least resistance, carving through the earth used to fill in the old mill races along the river. In this instance, the old Weston Mills (AKA The Wadsworth Mills) was situated on the west bank of the Humber, slightly north of this location. The Holley saw mill also was situated in this general region, but on the east side of the River.

This image was likely taken by Edgar Parsons on the 17th or 18th of October 1954 and looks north."

The land that disappeared

Martin Proctor: “Lawrence Avenue West, looking towards Etobicoke. The bridge at Lawrence withstood the floodwaters, as with the Wadsworth bridge, but the approach on the Weston side was washed away. The land that disappeared was the landfill over one of the old mill races for the Weston Woolen Mills. Photo by Edgar Parsons.”

Flooded approach to the bridge

Martin Proctor: “16th of October 1954. The photographer has panned back slightly to view the flooded approach to the bridge.”

Bulldozers were brought in

Martin Proctor: “This image was likely taken by Edgar Parsons on the 17th or 18th of October, 1954. Efforts to reconnect Weston with the bridge are rapidly underway, with bulldozers brought in to shore up the earth and rebuild the approach to the bridge. The view is taken from Little Avenue, facing west towards the bridge on Lawrence linking Weston with Etobicoke.”

Reinforcing the earth

Martin Proctor: “Here is another photo taken by Edgar Parsons on the 17th or 18th of October 1954. The view is taken from slightly further up along Little Avenue as bulldozers continue reinforcing the earth around the new approach to the bridge on Lawrence Avenue West. Some debris is visibly strewn across the break wall in Cruickshank Park.”

The bridge rebuilding work

Martin Proctor: “Looking north towards the rebuilding work on the approach to the Lawrence Avenue Bridge, 17th of October 1954.

Residents looking on in shock

Martin Proctor: “Sixteenth of October 1954. The photographer continued south on Little Avenue to show residents looking on in shock at the floodwaters surging past Lawrence Avenue West. The old sign for Weston Arena can seen hanging askew on the south side of Lawrence.”

Weston Arena

Martin Proctor: “Sixteenth of October 1954. The photographer has panned southwards again towards Weston Arena, giving a better sense of how far the water had come up to the structure. At this stage in its history, it was used by the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team, the Weston Dukes.”