LOOKING BACK: Hurricane Hazel’s impact 70 years later

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — 70 years ago on October 16, 1954, Rochester, and Western New York as a whole faced the remnants of Hurricane Hazel which blew through with hurricane-force winds being reported in parts of the state causing widespread damage, along with devastating flooding in Toronto.

Hazel initially formed as a tropical storm on October 5, 1954, in the Caribbean. Within a day it grew to hurricane strength and made its first of several landfalls on Grenada in the West Indies with winds of 75 mph. From there the storm continued to to strengthen, eventually reaching major hurricane status as a category 3 hurricane when it struck Haiti for the first time on October 12, the storm would go on to make a second landfall on the small island nation later that same day as a category 2 hurricane. From there on the 13th of October the storm made landfall in the Bahamas with winds of 100mph.

At this point, the storm, steered by an approaching trough from the west turned its focus to the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Gaining strength from the warm waters of the Gulf Stream current that parallels the coast Hazel intensified to a monstrous category 4 hurricane. Upon making landfall along the border of North and South Carolina winds were estimated at 130mph in the eyewall of the storm.

The storm brought untold devastation along its entire path with over 400 deaths alone being reported in Haiti. Along Myrtle Beach, entire homes were wiped off their foundations, and the storm surge was estimated to be approximately 18 feet high in the worst-hit areas.

From there the storm began to change in nature, losing its “tropical” title as it began to merge with another storm system pushing in from the west. While no longer officially able to be called a hurricane, the storm maintained much of its strength as it began to accelerate northward at an unusual pace according to John Hitchcock, a Meteorologist from the National Weather Service Office in Buffalo, NY.

“Hazel accelerated northward, a move much faster than a typical hurricane. Hurricanes typically move with a forward speed of 10 to 20mph. Hazel started moving at about 50mph northward.”

The storm now racing towards Western New York left a swath of damage stretching from the Carolinas right through Rochester.

“So the unique thing about Hazel is the broad, very strong winds to Pennsylvania and New York state and even into southern Ontario. We often see hurricane remnants, but they typically just produce some rain across the region. Occasionally some flooding. But the strength of the wind was unique, with Hazel,” said Hitchcock.

According to Christine Ridarsky, the City Historian, for the City of Rochester, the city itself was largely spared from the worst of the storm’s fury but didn’t make it out unscathed either.

“Winds were gusting, up above 50mph. So there were a lot of power and telephone lines down about 1200 people without service, a lot of trees down,” said Ridarsky.

Hitchcock added too: “If you think about mid-October, there’s still leaves on the trees. So when we still have leaves on the deciduous trees, they put up a lot more resistance to the wind.”

Damage across areas to our north and west was far more extensive with cities like Buffalo and Toronto experiencing the brunt of it.

“One quote from a local, utility company in the Buffalo area said it was the worst damage that they had seen, to date. So this did produce significant tree damage and extensive power outages,” said Hitchcock.

“Toronto was devastated. They had about 7000 acres flooded, about 80 people killed. It was just a mess. I think they said $10 million worth of damage up there. So in retrospect, we were very fortunate compared to them,” said Ridarsky.

One other notable event from this storm included the strongest wind gust, even to this day, in New York City which was found in Battery Park where the winds gusted to 113 mph as the core of the storm passed to the west.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.