Survival: Hurricane!

Caught in the eye of a hurricane! Would you survive? Billy Gordon is fascinated by natural disasters. When a school assignment requires him to research a current event, he knows exactly what to write about: Hurricane Hazel, which is currently blasting the Caribbean. It’s been in all the news reports and Billy’s been following its progress closely. But after days of heavy rain Billy starts to get concerned that the Hurricane could strike close to home. His friends and family think he’s overreacting. How could a hurricane strike Toronto when it’s so far inland? Then on the night of October 15, the rain and wind intensify and Billy’s home and that of his neighbours on Raymore Drive are flooded. Will they survive? Hurricane Hazel was a category 4 hurricane that struck Toronto on the night of October 15, 1954. Winds of 110 km/hour and 285 mm of rain over 48 hours hit Toronto. Thousands were left homeless. Eighty-one people died in Toronto when waterways flooded, thirty-five of them on Raymore Drive near the Humber River.