On October 15, 1954, one of the deadliest hurricanes of the 20th century struck Southern Ontario. It was called Hurricane Hazel, and by the time it reached Toronto, had already caused hundreds of deaths in its wake and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Forecasters had predicted that the intensity of the storm would lessen as it came inland, but this proved not to be the case. In Toronto winds reached 150 kilometre per hour and dumped more than 200 millimetres (about eight inches) of rain in less than 24 hours. Bridges and streets were washed out and homes and trailers were swept into Lake Ontario. Thousands were left homeless, and 81 people were killed - 35 of them on one street alone.  

In this hour, a documentary from the program Project 59 that looks back five years to the events of that fall, 1954.