Disasters of the Century
Encyclopedia
Disasters of the Century is a documentary television series that airs on History Television
. The program is produced by Regina, Saskatchewan
-based Partners in Motion.
Each episode documents two different disasters from Canada and around the world, using a mixture of re-enactments, photographs, and interviews with survivors and family members of victims. Some episodes deal with broader topics concerning disaster. For example, Washed Away investigates the destruction water can cause by looking at several disasters.
Any Televisions has different Episodes numbering schemes.
History Television
History Television is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that presents programming about history and some non-historical programming of military, science and technology interest. It is owned by Shaw Media. Its French language counterpart is Historia.The channel operates two...
. The program is produced by Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
-based Partners in Motion.
Each episode documents two different disasters from Canada and around the world, using a mixture of re-enactments, photographs, and interviews with survivors and family members of victims. Some episodes deal with broader topics concerning disaster. For example, Washed Away investigates the destruction water can cause by looking at several disasters.
Any Televisions has different Episodes numbering schemes.
Episodes
- Living on the Edge: The 1903 Frank SlideFrank SlideThe Frank Slide is a natural landslide feature in the southern Rocky Mountains of Canada, and a significant historical event in western Canada.Frank, Alberta is a coal mining town in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta...
, 1914 Hillcrest mine disasterHillcrest mine disasterThe Hillcrest mine disaster, the worst coal mining disaster in Canadian history, occurred at Hillcrest, Alberta, in the Crowsnest Pass region of western Canada, on Friday June 19, 1914. At the time it was the world's third worst mine disaster.... - Black Week: Senghenydd mine collapseSenghenydd Colliery DisasterThe Senghenydd Colliery Disaster, also known as the Senghenydd Explosion, occurred in Senghenydd , near Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales on 14 October 1913, killing 439 miners...
, Liverpool train collision, Loss of the ZeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
LZ14 – The old adage that tragedyTragedy (event)A tragedy is an event in which one or more losses, usually of human life, occurs that is viewed as mournful. Such an event is said to be tragic....
happens in threes was never truer than during the week of 9–15 October 1913, otherwise known as Black Week, when hundreds of miners lost their lives, two express trains collided near Liverpool, and the S.S. Volturno and Zeppelin L. II became beacons blazing in the night. - Nature's Fury: 1912 Regina Tornado, American Super OutbreakSuper OutbreakThe Super Outbreak is the second largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the tornado outbreak of April 25–28, 2011...
of 1974 - Washed Away: 1954 Hurricane HazelHurricane HazelHurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane...
, 1960 Great Chilean TsunamiGreat Chilean EarthquakeThe 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale... - Out of Control: 1949 Noronic FireSS NoronicThe SS Noronic was a passenger ship that was destroyed by fire in Toronto Harbour in September 1949 with serious loss of life.-The ship:SS Noronic was launched June 2, 1913 in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada...
, 1942 Cocoanut Grove fireCocoanut Grove fireThe Cocoanut Grove was Boston's premier nightclub during the post-Prohibition 1930s and 40s. On November 28, 1942, occurred the scene of what remains the deadliest nightclub fire, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more... - Human Error: 1917 Halifax ExplosionHalifax ExplosionThe Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows"...
, 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans crash1955 Le Mans disasterThe 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, when a crash caused large parts of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. The driver was killed, as were 83 spectators. A further 120 people were injured... - From the Inside Out: 1953 Tangiwai disasterTangiwai disasterThe Tangiwai disaster on 24 December 1953 was the worst rail accident in New Zealand history. An 11-carriage overnight express from Wellington to Auckland fell into the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, ten kilometres west of Waiouru. The bridge carrying the North Island Main Trunk Railway over the...
, 1902 Mount Pelée eruptionMount PeléeMount Pelée is an active volcano at the northern end of the island and French overseas department of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. Its volcanic cone is composed of layers of volcanic ash and hardened lava.... - Critical Mass: 1907 Quebec Bridge collapse, 1919 Boston Molasses disasterBoston molasses disasterThe Boston Molasses Disaster, also known as the Great Molasses Flood and the Great Boston Molasses Tragedy, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. A large molasses storage tank burst, and a wave of molasses rushed through the...
- Lost at Sea: 1967 USS Forrestal fire1967 USS Forrestal fireThe 1967 USS Forrestal fire was a devastating fire and series of chain-reaction explosions on 29 July 1967 that killed 134 sailors and injured 161 on the aircraft carrier , after an unusual electrical anomaly discharged a Zuni rocket on the flight deck...
, 1939 HMS ThetisHMS Thetis (N25)HMS Thetis was a Group 1 T-class submarine of the Royal Navy which served under two names. Under her first identity, HMS Thetis, she commenced sea trials on 4 March 1939. She sank during trials on 1 June 1939 with the loss of 99 lives... - It Came from the Sky: 1945 Empire State Building CrashB-25 Empire State Building crashThe B-25 Empire State Building crash was a 1945 aircraft accident in which a B-25 Mitchell piloted in thick fog crashed into the Empire State Building...
, 1954 Moose Jaw Air crash - Final Destination: 1947 Minaki-Transcontinental train crash, 1944 Balvano train disasterBalvano train disasterIn the Balvano train disaster of March 2/3, 1944, some 426 people illegally riding a steam-hauled freight train died of carbon monoxide poisoning when the train stalled on a steep gradient in the Armi tunnel. The accident occurred in southern Italy, near Balvano .-Circumstances:Naples suffered...
near Salerno, Italy - In an Instant: 1910 Rogers Pass avalanche1910 Rogers Pass avalancheThe 1910 Rogers Pass Avalanche was an avalanche which killed 62 men clearing a railroad line near the summit of Rogers Pass through the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia on March 4, 1910...
– B.C. Avalanche buries Rail Workers ; 1963 Vajont DamVajont DamThe Vajont Dam is a disused dam, completed in 1959 in the valley of the Vajont river under Monte Toc, 100 km north of Venice, Italy...
disaster – Italy Mountain slide overflows dam - When the Earth Moves: 1923 1923 Great Kantō earthquake1923 Great Kanto earthquakeThe struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
, 1972 Nicaragua earthquake1972 Nicaragua earthquakeThe 1972 Nicaragua earthquake was an earthquake that occurred at 12:29 a.m. local time on Saturday, December 23, 1972 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a magnitude of 6.2 and occurred at a depth of about 5 kilometers beneath the centre of the city. Within an hour after the main... - Up in Flames: 1916 Matheson Forest Fire, 1960 Windsor Gas Explosion
- Lost in Transit: 1978 Eastman Bus Tragedy, 1956 CF100 Crash at Villa St. Louis ConventOrléans air disasterThe Convent Crash, also known as the Orléans air disaster and Villa St. Louis disaster, occurred on May 15, 1956 after a CF-100 fighter jet crashed into the Villa St. Louis in the community of Orléans, Ontario. 15 people were killed in the crash including 11 members of the Grey Nuns.- Events :At...
- Eye of the Storm: 1913 Great Lakes StormGreat Lakes StormThe Great Lakes Storm was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association for three seasons, beginning in 2002 and ending in 2005. They were based in Birch Run, Michigan, a small town between Flint and Saginaw. The Storm played at the Birch Run Expo Center. The original...
, 1914 Newfoundland Sealing disaster - Death by Water: 1921 Britannia Beach disaster, 1958 Second Narrows BridgeIronworkers Memorial Second Narrows CrossingThe Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, also called the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, is the second bridge constructed at the Second Narrows of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
collapse - Communities Under Siege: 1958 Springhill Mining DisasterSpringhill mining disasterThe term Springhill mining disaster can refer to any of three separate Canadian mining disasters which occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coalfield, near the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia....
, 1929 Grand Banks Tsunami1929 Grand Banks earthquakeThe 1929 Grand Banks earthquake, also called the Laurentian Slope earthquake and the South Shore Disaster, was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that occurred on November 18, 1929 in the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Laurentian Slope Seismic Zone.The earthquake was centred on...
- #19/27/30 No Survivors: 1998 Swiss Air Crash, 1918 SS Princess Sophia
- On its way to New York, Swiss Air 111 found its electrical systems failing one by one as a cockpit fire overheated the wiring. The crew attempted an emergency landing at Halifax Airport.
- A Canadian steamship carrying miners from Yukon and Alaska became stranded on Vanderbilt Reef.
- #20/28/31 Friends And Family
- The Ocean RangerOcean RangerOcean Ranger was a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit that sank in Canadian waters on 15 February 1982. It was drilling an exploration well in the Grand Banks area, east of St. John's, Newfoundland, for Mobil Oil of Canada, Ltd. with 84 crew members on board when it sank...
Disaster: In February 1982 the mobile oil drilling platform Ocean Ranger, caught in seas 30 metres high off the Grand Banks, sank to the bottom of the sea. - Hurricane JuanHurricane JuanHurricane Juan was a significant hurricane that struck the southern part of Atlantic Canada in late September 2003. It was the tenth named storm and the sixth hurricane of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Juan formed southeast of Bermuda on September 24, 2003 out of a tropical wave that tracked...
– On 28 September 2003, Halifax was hit by the most ferocious hurricane Nova Scotia had seen in 110 years. Winds raging up to 160 kilometers per hour pulled the freezing ocean over seawalls and into people’s houses, plucked roofs from people’s homes and pulled trees up from the ground. The city was brought to a standstill.
- The Ocean Ranger
- #21/32 Collision Course – In science it is known as the Butterfly Effect, change one small thing, and you change everything. Make one small mistake and the course of a life is altered forever.
- 1942 USS Truxtun/USS PolluxUSS Pollux (AKS-2)The second USS Pollux was a Castor-class general stores issue ship.Pollux was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Hoboken, N.J...
/USS WilkesUSS Wilkes (DD-441)USS Wilkes , a , was the 3rd ship of the United States Navy to be named for Charles Wilkes, who was an American naval officer and explorer....
– 18 February 1942, two US Navy destroyer and a supply ship grounded themselves on the rocks of Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. Miners roused the surrounding towns and mounted a massive rescue effort. - 1978 Cranbrook Air CrashPacific Western Airlines Flight 314On 11 February 1978, Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a 737-200, crashed at Cranbrook Airport, near Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, killing 42 of the 49 people on board....
– On 11 February 1978 Pacific Western Airlines 737-200 crashed at Cranbrook Airport. The aircraft touched down just as the pilots noticed a snow plough on the runway. The aircraft missed the plough, overran the runway, crashed and burned.
- 1942 USS Truxtun/USS Pollux
- #22 Out Of The Blue (Don't mistake with #40)
- 1957 DC-4 Crash
- 1914 RMS Empress of IrelandRMS Empress of IrelandRMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships...
(see also #39)
- #23/35 Death In A Small Town – Few can say that much positive comes from a disaster. It is true, however, that many disasters effect change for the better – making our homes, transportation, and surroundings safer and preventing similar disasters from happening again.
- 1971 St. Jean Vianney – St. Jean Vianney Mudslide: In the afternoon of 4 May 1971, the dogs in the Quebec town of St. Jean Vianney began to bark and whimper. Cows refused to leave their barns, and children came in from lunch, claiming that the ground was shaking and making strange noises. That night, as the town settled in for sleep, the unstable wet clay soil suddenly began to move. A hole opened up in the ground and began to suck whole houses into its maw. Families escaped from their homes and ran down the streets to get away from the widening hole. 36 homes were lost and 31 people died in the disaster. The town of St. Jean Vianney was abandoned and new building laws in Quebec were established.
- 1997 St. Joseph Bus Crash – St. Joseph Bus Accident: 13 October 1997, marked the worst bus accident in North American history, when a bus in rural Quebec plunged off an embankment and killed 43 of its 48 passengers. The victims were senior citizens on a charter bus tour. Police determined that the bus was traveling too fast for the winding curves of the embankment and broke through the guardrail, falling 30 feet and landing on its side. The accident devastated the small town of St. Bernard. It was the second bus accident to happen in that spot since 1974, when a bus accident claimed the lives of 13 seniors. Citizens' groups have since urged stronger safety regulations for Quebec buses.
- # 14 Death and Profits
- # 15 When Laughter turns to Tears
- # 17 Wrong Choice
- # 16 – 2 Aeroplane Crashes
- # 18 Loki's Revenge
- # 19 Industrial Nightmares
- # 20 All Fall Down
- # 21 By Their Own Doing – Advances in technology have made the success of human endeavour more attainable. As humans, we make mistakes and have misunderstandings that can lead to tragedy. This episode examines The Queen MaryRMS Queen MaryRMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
/ CuracoaHMS Curacoa (D41)HMS Curacoa, named after the island Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea, was a Ceres group C-class light cruiser. In 1942, she became one of the Royal Navy's major accidental losses during the Second World War.-First World War:...
Collision, as well as The Newfoundland Sealing Disaster. - #22 Rising From The Ashes
- When a huge tidal wave hit England and the Netherlands on 1 February 1953, hundreds of dikes broke and were washed away by huge waves. The storm surge claimed 2,000 lives.
- 12 January 1954 – over 200 people died in Austria’s worst single avalanche.
- # 23 Stormy Waters – The greatest disaster ever to strike the Great Lakes was the 1913 Lake Huron Storm. 19 ships were lost, two dozen were thrown ashore, and 238 sailors died. The hurricane that struck the Florida Keys on 2 September 1935, was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States at that time.
- # 24 Homes Swept Away – 1915, 1921, 1974 – Throughout history, people have built shelters to keep out the elements, from modest huts to the most elaborate mansions. But when the weather turns wild, not even the best built homes can withstand the forces of nature. Examines the Britannia Beach disaster and Cyclone Tracy.
- # 25 Islands Under Attack
- On 28 September 1965, Mt. Taal in the Philippines erupted killing 350 people.
- On 18 November 1929, a submarine earthquake off the Grand Banks triggered a huge tsunami. Homes, businesses, wharves, and fishing boats were smashed or swept away, along with the fish harvest, food, and fuel oil supplies.
- # 26 Deadly Elements
- On 30 July 1916, high winds blowing through the forests of Northern Ontario turned a small fire into an inferno that destroyed nearly 800 square miles (2,072 km²) of forest.
- In 1972, Rapid City witnessed the worst storm in South Dakota’s history. A creek burst its banks and washed homes, cars, and businesses away in its wake.
- # 29/33 Fire and Ice
- British Columbia Forest Fires: By August 2003, the summer’s raging forest fires began to approach towns and cities in the Okanagan Valley. It was the worst fire season in British Columbia in the last hundred years. The province declared a state of emergency, evacuating tens of thousands of frightened residents. 250,000 hectares of forest turned to ash.
- Toronto Snow Storm: A severe winter storm dumped 48 cm of snow on Toronto's downtown, while gale-force winds piled the snow into huge drifts.
- # 34 Against the Elements
- Battery Snowslide – Two avalanches occurred in the Outer Battery in St. John’s during one of the worst storms in Canadian history. The storm dumped 55 cm of snow on the city, accompanied by winds up to 220 km/h, leaving 70,000 people with no electricity.
- Pine Lake Tornado – A tornado touched down on the west side of Pine Lake near the Green Acres campground on Friday 14 July 2000. Four hundred camping sites were destroyed and 12 people were killed as trailers were overturned and buildings smashed to splinters.
- # 36 End of the Line
- Hinton Train CrashHinton train collisionThe Hinton train collision was a railway accident that occurred on February 8, 1986. Twenty-three people were killed in a collision between a Canadian National Railway freight train and a Via Rail passenger train. It was the most lethal Canadian rail disaster since the Dugald accident of 1947...
– On 8 February 1986, east of Hinton, Alberta, a Via Super continental passenger train collided head-on with a freight train, unleashing a flood of grain, sulphur and sewage. - Dryden Air CrashAir Ontario Flight 1363Air Ontario Flight 1363 was an Air Ontario flight of a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship which crashed near Dryden, Ontario on March 10, 1989 immediately after take-off en route from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg via Dryden...
– On 10 March 1989, a Fokker F-28 with 69 passengers aboard crashed just beyond the runway. The plane burst into flames and broke apart, killing 24 passengers and destroying the cockpit voice recorder, or “black box”.
- Hinton Train Crash
- # 38 Head On
- On 23 February 1918, the SS Florizel, carrying 78 passengers and a crew of 60, set out amidst poor weather conditions on its regular route from St John’s, Newfoundland to New York City. By 26 February, however, a storm had both diminished visibility and interfered with the ship’s equipment. With the crew confused and mistaken about the ship’s position, the Florizel was unwittingly captained onto a spike of rock called Horn Head near the Newfoundland coast. 94 of the 138 people onboard drowned in the cold winter waters off the Newfoundland coast.
- In Pictou County, Nova Scotia, the dangers of the mining profession are real and present in everyday life. This became especially true to the small mining town of Plymouth on the morning of 9 May 1992. A blast deep within the mine took the lives of 26 of its workers. It is suspected that the explosion was caused when a sudden release of methane gas, a natural by-product of coal production, was lit by a spark. 11 of the 26 killed that day were never recovered from the mine and a memorial stands today above their final resting place. Following this disaster, a thorough overhaul of provincial labour and mining laws was recommended.
- # 39 Full Stop
- On a clear Thursday afternoon, 28 May 1914, the RMS Empress of IrelandRMS Empress of IrelandRMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships...
left Québec City on its journey to the English port of Liverpool. Early in the morning of 29 May, a thick fog rolled in over the St. Lawrence River. During a routine attempt to pass an approaching ship, poor visibility caused a Norwegian vessel named the Storstad to ram the Empress amidships, punching a deadly hole in its side. Icy water flooded the ship. In less than fifteen minutes, the gigantic Empress of Ireland sank. Out of almost 1500 people aboard, only 465 were rescued. Today the sinking of the Empress of Ireland ranks as one of the worst peacetime disasters ever to happen in Canada. - On 10 August 1957, Maritime Central Airways transatlantic flight left London, England for Toronto. While flying over the St. Lawrence valley the following morning, the plane hit an unexpected storm which wrenched control out of the pilot’s hands and forced the plane towards the ground. The Douglas DC-4Douglas DC-4The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
came down at a speed of nearly 350 km/h and created a hole 8 meters deep in a field near the town of Issoudun, Québec. It is felt that because the crew had been on duty for nearly 20 hours at that time, their performances were drastically compromised. It was the first major civilian air disaster in Canadian history. From this tragic and avoidable loss of life, a Canadian standard has been developed to limit shift length and prevent future disasters of this magnitude. Today, a monument marks the spot where 79 passengers and crew lost their lives. (More about Accident)
- On a clear Thursday afternoon, 28 May 1914, the RMS Empress of Ireland
- # 40 (Don't mistake with #22) Out of the Blue
- Blue Bird Café fireBlue Bird Café fireThe Blue Bird Café fire was a nightclub fire on September 1, 1972 in Montreal, Canada. In all, 37 people were killed as a result of the arson.Montreal’s Blue Bird Café and the Wagon Wheel, a country and western bar above it, were located on the west side of Union Street between Ste-Catherine Ouest...
– On 1 September 1972, patrons of Montreal’s Blue Bird Café and the Wagon Wheel, the country and western bar above the café, were celebrating the end of another summer. In the main entrance to the Wagon Wheel, however, 3 young men, drunk and upset over being refused entry to the bar began a fire on the staircase. With one exit now blocked by fire, victims sought out other means of escape. However, conflicting city regulations had left the Wagon Wheel with too few fire exits. This left only two escape routes, through the kitchen onto a foldaway fire escape, and through the window in the ladies washroom onto a car parked below. Due to these errors in judgement, 37 people were unable to escape the fire and smoke that night. Fire escape regulations have since been standardised to prevent another disaster of this magnitude. - Air Canada Flight 621 on 5 July 1970 from Montreal to Los AngelesAir Canada Flight 621The deadliest accident at Toronto International Airport, now called Pearson International Airport, took place on July 5, 1970, when Air Canada Flight 621, a Douglas DC-8 registered CF-TIW, was flying on a Montreal–Toronto–Los Angeles route....
, called the “Champagne Flight” due to its typical fun-loving, holiday crowd, was set to make a scheduled stop in Toronto when disaster struck. A minor misunderstanding in the cockpit over landing procedures caused the first officer to deploy the ground spoilers manually while in the air. The plane nosed downwards and struck the runway briefly before lifting off again. The captain managed to pull the damaged plane around for another attempt at landing, but as he did so the plane began to disintegrate in the air while an explosion blew off the right wing, killing all 100 passengers and 6 crewmembers on board.
- Blue Bird Café fire
- # 41 In the Blink of an Eye
- Eager to reap the benefits of a good week of fishing, over one hundred men and boys from the village of Escuminac, New Brunswick took to the waters of Miramichi Bay on Friday, 19 June 1959. By 10 pm, however, the strong northeasterly winds that had been blowing all week became a storm that stirred up 50-foot waves and impossible-to-navigate winds. While 86 fishermen did survive the storm that night, the water took 35 men and boys, devastating the small fishing villages of Escuminac, Baie du Vin, and Baie Ste-Anne. In Escuminac, a monument to the lost souls now stands as a reminder of those needless losses and as a promise for the future.
- The Flora Alberta, a fishing vessel with 28 men aboard, was sailing near the Nova Scotia coast on 23 April 1943 when it was rammed by a military steamship and cut practically in two. At the time, World War II was raging in Europe and the Fanad Head was part of a convoy traveling in the Nova Scotia area. Due to a thick fog the two ships were unable to see each other until minutes before the accident and although every effort was made to avoid collision, little could be done. The Flora Alberta floundered so quickly that the three lifeboats lowered by the Fanad Head were able to rescue only 7 of the 28 people.
Unsorted Episodes
- Frozen Hell
- Saturday 15 March 1941 was a beautiful spring day that saw much of the winter’s snow melting quickly away. The afternoon took a turn for the worse, however, when an Alberta ClipperAlberta clipperAn Alberta clipper is a fast moving low pressure area which generally affects the central provinces of Canada and parts of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Most clippers occur between December and February, but can also occur occasionally in the month of November...
, a particularly devastating type of blizzard, swept across the Canadian Prairie Provinces and into the United States. This type of storm arises and dissipates with little to no warning and as a result, is one of the deadliest types of blizzards experienced on the prairies. This particular storm, although lasting only 7 hours, took the lives of 8 Canadians and at least 70 Americans. - After days of heavy snowfall, at least 60 inches of wet, heavy snow were left to settle on the mountainside above the Granduc mining development. Work on this mine included the creation of a tunnel 11 miles (17.7 km) long through the mountain terrain that would give access to much-needed equipment. In the morning of 18 February 1965 a massive avalanche claimed the lives of 26 of their coworkers. This avalanche destroyed most of the Granduc campsite. While few safety precautions had been taken prior to the avalanche, the Granduc mining company was swift to follow the avalanche with safety regulations that they hoped would prevent such a massive loss of life in the future.
- Saturday 15 March 1941 was a beautiful spring day that saw much of the winter’s snow melting quickly away. The afternoon took a turn for the worse, however, when an Alberta Clipper
- Soldiers At Rest
- Knights of Columbus Hostel fireKnights of Columbus Hostel fireThe Knights of Columbus Hostel fire was a structure fire that occurred during World War II on Saturday, December 12, 1942, in St. John's, Newfoundland in a hostel operated by the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal organization....
. On the night of Saturday 12 December 1942, hundreds of American servicemen and residents of St. John’s, NewfoundlandSt. John's, Newfoundland and LabradorSt. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
were gathered for a night of music at the Knights of Columbus hostel. At 11:10 pm a blaze that had started in the attic tore through the building burning the hostel quickly. Its windows and doors, locked and covered for blackout purposes, left victims searching for exits. In total, 99 partygoers lost their lives that night, while 109 more were left wounded by the fire. The Knights of Columbus Fire ranks as one of the worst disasters in Newfoundland history. Today fire regulations have been put in place to prevent such tragedies from happening again. - Canoe River train crashCanoe River train crashThe Canoe River train crash occurred on November 21, 1950, near Valemount in eastern British Columbia, Canada, when a westbound troop train and the eastbound Canadian National Railway Continental Limited collided head-on...
. On 21 November 1950, a train with 388 Canadian soldiers en route to the USA for training collided with an eastbound passenger train. They met on a curve near Canoe RiverCanoe River (British Columbia)Canoe River is a tributary of the Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada. Its lower reach is flooded by Mica Dam. The lower Canoe River is called Canoe Reach, part of the Mica Dam's reservoir, Kinbasket Lake.-Course:...
, British Columbia where track visibility was limited and falling snow prevented the engineers from seeing the opposing train’s smoke. While the cars of the passenger train were built entirely of steel, the troop train consisted of some steel cars and some wooden cars with steel framing. These wooden cars were surrounded by steel and buckled under the pressure of impact. All aboard the passenger train survived, but 4 railroad workers and 17 soldiers were killed. Following this collision, regulations that were already in place to ensure that wooden cars be placed at the end of the train were reinforced and the Canadian National Railway began to phase out the use of wooden cars.
- Knights of Columbus Hostel fire
- Coast To Coast
- 1900 Galveston hurricane. 8 September 1900 saw the advent of North America’s most destructive natural disaster to date. With winds of up to 150 mph and waters surging up to 16 feet high, this hurricane first hit Galveston, TexasGalveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
before making its way through the American Midwest and into Canada’s maritime provinces. Tearing first through Southern Ontario, the storm wreaked havoc on homes and farms, killing one man in Niagara Falls. The storm picked up strength again as it hit the Maritimes and began to devastate the fishing fleets in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Grand Banks. At least 86 Canadians were killed in the storm, although it is suspected that even more were lost. Following this storm, Newfoundland requested that Canada’s storm warning system be extended throughout their province as well, in the hopes that future losses would be prevented by advance knowledge of upcoming storms. - Typhoon Freda, known as the Columbus Day Storm in the United States, began in the Pacific Ocean and merged with another tropical storm before hitting the west coast of Canada and the Northern United States on 12 October 1962. Freda was one of the largest storms of the century, stretching from San Francisco to the northern BC coasts, devastating Vancouver IslandVancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
and the lower mainland. Hardest hit in Vancouver was Stanley Park, losing one third of its approximately 10,000 trees. In total, 7 people died in Canada and millions of dollars in property were lost. In the wake of the storm, the Canadian government made substantial improvements in its disaster response planning.
- 1900 Galveston hurricane. 8 September 1900 saw the advent of North America’s most destructive natural disaster to date. With winds of up to 150 mph and waters surging up to 16 feet high, this hurricane first hit Galveston, Texas
- Safe Passage
- In the spring of 1931, film director Varick Frissel commissioned the sealingSeal huntingSeal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
ship SS VikingSS VikingThe SS Viking was a ship used by the film producer Varick Frissel in the making of the 1931 film The Viking. During the shooting of extra footage for this film it exploded, taking the lives of Varick Frissel and twenty-six other crew members....
to shoot action sequences for his new film. Along with his crew and equipment, Frissel had brought barrels of gunpowder aboard. The extra gunpowder was poorly stored and left in contact with sources of flame. In the evening of 15 March, as the ship’s crew prepared for bed, the gunpowder ignited. Survivors abandoned ship for the ice pans and trudged over 20 kilometres of ice and water to the remote Horse Islands, where local residents took them in. 65 people, including Varrick Frissel, died in the disaster. - On 18 September 1946, a DC-4 from Belgium’s SabenaSabenaSABENA was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of SABENA's assets in February 2002, which then became Brussels Airlines...
Airlines began its approach into Gander International AirportGander International AirportGander International Airport is located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and is currently run by the Gander Airport Authority. Canadian Forces Base Gander shares the airfield but is a separate entity from the airport.-Early years and prominence:...
, Newfoundland for a refueling stop. On its way in, bad weather flared up and the crew, unable to get their bearings in the storm, flew over the airport. The plane crashed into a densely wooded area, killing 27 of the 44 on board. The crash, not spotted until the following day, was nearly impossible for rescue crews to access. Eventually, two helicopters were brought in from the United States Coast Guard to aid in the rescue of the survivors. Even with this new rescue technology, it was not until 22 September that all survivors had been removed to safety. The pilots of these helicopters received the US Air Medal and the Belgian "Knight of the Order of Leopold" and it was ensured that their helicopters would have a permanent place in the Coast Guard's flight line.
- In the spring of 1931, film director Varick Frissel commissioned the sealing
- Life in Disaster Row – Some regions seem more prone to disaster than others. Through the sheer accident of geography, life on disaster row can be fraught with frequent danger.
- 1950 Red River Flood – WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
is built at the confluence of two rivers, every so often the Assiniboine and Red overflow their banks and transform the city into a disaster zone. A 1950 flood was caused by heavy snow cover and sustained for 51 days by heavy rain. In low-lying areas the water actually reached a depth of nearly 15 feet, covering a full one tenth of the city in water. - Windsor Tornado – In 1946 a tornado touched down just outside Windsor and tore through the city. Seventeen people died and 400 homes were lost. People from Detroit provided valuable emergency assistance throughout the rescue and cleanup. Although no one is sure of how strong the tornado was, some experts believe it rated an F4 on the Fujita damage scale.
- 1950 Red River Flood – Winnipeg