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Description : "Reginald Kuzyk was 30 years old, and an employee of the department of Highways, back on October 15th, 1954, when Hurricane Hazel hit.
The storm brought torrential rains and flooding. Dams burst, and homes were swept away in the floods. A total of 81 people lost their lives in Ontario. The floodwaters had washed onions from Holland Marsh fields and heaped them on the highway in "gobs.... I never seen so many onions in one place. They were all over the ground, and everywhere." He also remembers seeing two homes, which had drifted on the floodwaters until they washed up next to the highway. By the time Hazel blew itself out, more than seven thousand acres of farmland on both sides of the 400 were under water, covered by a lake more than 7' deep in places.
George Sadovchuk's described the Marsh after Hurricane Hazel as "it was just a lake. It was very impressive to see all that water where once was viable land... I was just amazed at the destruction that took place."
Relief efforts brought the homeless into Bradford, to the Town Hall, where they were clothed and fed by volunteers. A total of 25 pumps took about 4 weeks to drain the fields, at a peak pumping 220,000 gallons per minute. But it would take months to clear the debris and repair the damage. Seventy families - 350 men, women and children - spent the winter that followed in a trailer park, set up by the Rotary Club on the site of the Bradford Arena.
The sky was appropriately grey, for Sunday's historic tour of the Holland Marsh. The tour not only commemorated the 200th Anniversary of Yonge Street, but also the 42nd anniversary of Hurricane Hazel."

"Protecting the Holland Marsh from another Hurricane Hazel will cost at least $1.6-million, according to figures released by the South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority...."
The Marsh fears its dykes will not hold off another flood if a big storm hits, 25 years after Hurricane Hazel.

Front page of the first Bradford Witness paper after the Holland Marsh flood due to Hurricane Hazel on October 15, 1954. See Related Descriptions below for individual stories of this edition.

Notices about the flooded marshland

"After visiting the scene of the marshland flood here on Monday, attending an organization meeting and promising $100,00 to start the work of clearing and rebuilding, the Premier returned again yesterday, this time accompanied by Ontario Minister of Agriculture Thomas. ..."

"Immediate credit, to the extent of $100,000 by the Provincial Government, was promised by Premier Leslie Frost within a matter of minutes after his arrival by car to attend a meeting with the Holland Marsh Emergency Relief Committee, held in the Township of West GWillimbury municipal office on Monday. ..."

Two separate articles on the topic of flood relief funds.
"Holland Marsh Flood Relief Fund
On Sunday a Holland Marsh Flood relief Fund was organized, with "Brad" Walker as chairman.
Money is needed immediately. Many of the flood refugees are homeless. Their homes and everything in them are lost. Their crops, which are their livelihood, are lost.
Send cheques, payable to the Holland Marsh Flood Relief Fund, addressed to the Canadian Bank of Commerce, Bradford. Cash donations will also be accepted at the bank or at the town hall.
Remember - All cheques should be made payable to Holland Marsh Flood Relief Fund."

"Hurricane Relief Fund Makes First Contribution of $150,000
The Hurricane Relief Fund for Ontario has made its first contribution to the Holland Marsh of $150,000/ This is for rehabilitation purposes.
Just as Premier Leslie Frost's pledge of $100,000 is just a start to get the great task on dikes and land on the marsh started, so too is the Relief Fund's $150.000 a start on rehabilitation."

This article lists the members of the Emergency Relief Committee for the Holland Marsh Flood due to Hurricane Hazel.

"Holland Marsh residents and everyone living in this district will always remember "Hurrican [sic] Hazel" and the worst storm in Ontario's history, a storm which inundated the rich Holland Marsh gardens, ruining all crops yet to be harvested, sweeping buildings away in the water currents, and submerging some of the most beautiful homes of the district under feet of dirty water. ..."

"Toronto - The Canadian Mobile Home Association has announced an offer to provide more than two hundred mobile homes at cost price to victims of the Ontario flood. The C.M.H.A. has pulled its dealers from Winnipeg to Quebec City. Mobile homes can be made available on twenty-four hours' notice and hauled immediately to the stricken areas. ..."