Commission to Inquire into the Nature and Extent of the Damage Caused by the Flood in and Adjoining the Humber River Valley in Ontario (Canada) : The Commission to Inquire Into the Nature and Extent of the Damage Caused by the Flood In and Adjoining the Humber River Valley in Ontario was established under Order in Council (P.C. 1610, 20 October 1954) under the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1952, c.154) and on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The part of the Act under which this Commission was established is not indicated in the Order in Council. The Commission was mandated to inquire into the nature and extent of the damage caused by the flood in and adjoining the Humber River Valley in Ontario, the cost of fighting the flood, provision of emergency relief and the emergency precautions to be taken to guard against the recurrence of such flood conditions, in order to make available at the earliest possible date a complete statement of all the essential facts necessary to determine what provisions should be made by governments in respect of the flood. The Commissioners were John Ballantyne Carswell and Donald Bruce Shaw.
According to evidence of the Meteorological Office, Hurricane Hazel travelled north from Haiti, hitting the north shore of Lake Ontario at 11:10 p.m. on 15 October 1954. The eye of the storm, carrying with it heavy, warm, tropical air, met a cold front travelling eastward across Canada. The hurricane passed directly over Toronto and proceeded north, passing over North Bay at 1:30 the next morning. From there it headed into the south end of James Bay, dissipating itself. Abnormal rainfall and abnormally high winds affected an area starting at Chatham on the west, north to Blind River, then east through North Bay to Mattawa, then south to Port Hope. The evidence from some public utilities companies reveal that the wind storm also branched off in a northeasterly direction up the Ottawa Valley almost into Ottawa. The greatest concentration of rainfall was around Brampton where eight inches was recorded in 48 hours. The greatest damage occurred at the mouths of the streams emptying into Lake Ontario in the vicinity of Toronto, notably the Humber River and the Etobicoke Creek. Eighty-one lives were lost in the storm and an estimated 4 million in property damage occurred. Immediately following the storm, the government of Canada appointed a public inquiry to investigate and report on the damage. (See "Report On Hurricane Damage In Ontario, October 15 and 16, 1954" in the Commission's records.) RG33-33 General Inventory
