CHAPTER 9: LEGISLATION

Event: Hurricane Hazel Date: 12-16 October 1954 Summary: The hurricane had taken 500 lives as it crossed Haiti and the eastern US. But Torontos weather forecast for the 15th and 16th said the storm had weakened and would only bring light rain. Although most people in Ontario associated hurricanes with the tropics, there had been 25 tropical storms in the province since 1900. Hazel was the worst. Nine inches of rain fell on the Humber Valley in two days. Homes and bridges were washed away, and rivers overflowed their banks. Among the responders was Molsons Brewery Mobile Emergency Unit from Montreal, which gave typhoid shots to hundreds. Result: 81 dead in greater Toronto and a billion dollars damage in the storms path through Haiti and the US. Lessons Learned: It wasnt until 1974 that the federal government formed Emergency Preparedness Canada. The hurricane was an impetus to create a conservation authority in Metropolitan Toronto and manage flood plains. Few people were prepared with their own emergency supplies. Note the private-sector response.

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an ounce of prevention

chapter 9: leGislation

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