Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm was named by the US Weather Bureau on October 5. In Haiti, 40% of the coffee trees and 50% of the cacao crop were lost, and at least 400 people were killed. Hazel struck North Carolina near Calabash on October 15 as a Category 4 hurricane. It destroyed most of the waterfront dwellings near its point of impact, including about 80% of those in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Heading north along the Atlantic coast of the United States, it caused $281 million in damage and 95 fatalities. Hazel struck Canada as an extratropical storm, raising the death toll by 81 people. Its effects were unprecedented in and around Toronto, due to a combination of heavy rainfall during the preceding weeks, the storm's unexpected retention of power and a lack of experience in dealing with tropical storms. Rivers and streams overflowed, causing over C$135 million of damage. The storm's name was later retired from use for North Atlantic hurricanes.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hazel
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
During construction of the Hennepin Island tunnel in St. Anthony, Minnesota (now Minneapolis), U.S., the Mississippi River broke through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony Falls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_Island_tunnel
1930:
The British airship R101 crashed in France en route to India on its maiden overseas flight, killing 48 passengers and crew. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R101
1970:
Members of the Front de Libération du Québec kidnapped British diplomat James Cross, sparking the October Crisis in Montreal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Crisis
1986:
Eugene Hasenfus's plane was shot down by Nicaraguan forces while carrying weapons to the Contra rebels on behalf of the U.S. government; he was subsequently captured, leading to an international controversy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
plesionym: (linguistics) A word that is almost a synonym but which has a slightly different meaning. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plesionym
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from the soil of a clearsighted awareness of the temporality and the ephemerality of everything human. It is only this awareness that can breathe any greatness into an action. --Václav Havel https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Havel