10 Worst Natural Disasters In Canadian History
By: 911 Water Damage
Throughout Canadian history, we have witnessed a lot of destruction.
The percentage of natural disasters is not that high, yet still, the ones that have happened have left a great impact on the land.
Today we are taking a look at some of the worst natural disasters that have happened in Canada.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Tseax Cone Eruption
Source: Wikipedia
This happened in British Columbia more than 300 years ago.
It is believed to be one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions ever. The activity of this volcano managed to kill more than 2000 indigenous people and create a lot of toxic fumes.
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The lava became like a hot river that destroyed a few villages and made thousands of people choke to death.
The legend says that the mountain got angry and released the lava because of an angry Creator who wanted to punish a group of children for harming some salmon.
2. Cascadia Earthquake
Source: Wikipedia
More than 300 years ago, one of the biggest earthquakes happened in Canada.
According to the oral history, this earthquake happened at night and caused a fault that spanned more than 1000 kilometers, from Vancouver Island to northern California.
It managed to plunge some coastal forests into the sea and kill more than 3000 people.
Plenty of seismologists believe that this line where the rapture happened is bound to repeat by an earthquake that can happen every 200 to 300 years.
3. Great Newfoundland Hurricane
The deadliest hurricane in Canada happened over 300 years ago too, but this natural disaster managed to kill more than 4000 people.
Most of them have been sailors from Ireland and England who have drowned off the eastern and southern coast of Newfoundland. This used to be one of the most valuable fishing grounds for the British people.
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Just as the Revolutionary War was in full swing, the violent storm started devouring whatever it could. The second storm that came about a month later managed to sweep away the rest of the 700 boats that were remaining.
After the storm, the fishing nets were filled with human bodies and it took a while for the shore and the people who survived to get back to normal.
4. Nova Scotia Hurricane
Even though this one was considered to be a relatively weak hurricane, it still managed to destroy about 900 buildings and more than 1200 boats.
It caused floods all over Nova Scotia and managed to kill about 600 people.
This happened towards the end of the 19th century, and most of the people there were not prepared for it. This certainly came as a shock to them, especially because that same year the SS Atlantic sunk, and the death toll there was 535 passengers.
5. Rogers Pass Avalanche
In the year 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway railroad linked Canada from one end to the other.
This is how the company that made the railroad managed to be one of the most powerful ones in the country. However, the trail had some rough spots. It was supposed to go through a passage in the Selkirk Mountains.
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Since the risk of an avalanche was great, and due to the heavy snow, people were often called to clear out the way.
On March 4th, 1910, there was a huge avalanche that pushed a locomotive off the tracks. It buried 62 workers. Once their bodies were recovered, they were found in an upright position.
6. Regina Cyclone
The deadliest tornado in Canada happened one summer day in the year 1912.
According to witnesses, it began with some weird clouds forming. It ended up being as powerful as 400km/hour, making houses explode from the pressure and wreaking havoc on the buildings.
It ended up killing 28 people. 2500 people were left without a roof over their heads.
After the tornado, the city of Regina took its time and was rebuilt in about two years. Because they had a debt to assist with rebuilding the city, it took them 10 years to pay it off.
7. Great Lakes Storm
This one is also known as the White Hurricane too. It happened towards the end of 1913 in Ontario. Its impact was so great that it caused devastation and took many lives.
Since it’s rare for storms to last a long period, this was an unlucky exception.
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It lasted about 16 hours and it managed to flatten forests, destroy power lines, and throw about 50 centimeters of snow all around the south of Ontario.
After it has passed, many dead sailors washed up on the shore. The total number of people who were killed was 250 people.
8. Ice Storm
Moving on to the more modern times, this ice storm is something that most people might remember. It happened in the winter of 1998 in Ontario and Quebec.
This ice storm was so massive that about 600,000 people fled from their homes. It’s considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in Canada in recent history.
In some areas you could find coverage of snow and ice of about 10cm, thus leaving residents in those areas without electricity or heat, or any other means to survive.
The Federal Government managed to control this by putting all hands on deck and they delivered supplies, cleared the roads, and provided shelter for all those who were in need.
9. Southern Alberta Floods
This happened in June 2013 and managed to cause loss and property damage of about 6 million dollars.
This is one of the largest evacuations that happened in Canada, where more than 110,000 people were evacuated. The outflow managed to do a great deal of damage, and authorities declared an emergency as soon as the flood rushed into Calgary.
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It took four days for the water to recede, and then the most massive clean-up started to take place.
10. Fort McMurray Wildfires
This destructive Canadian natural disaster happened in 2016 in Alberta.
It cost Canada 9.9 billion dollars in damages. The high-temperature levels and the ideal desert conditions created the roaring wildfires.
As the evacuation process of about 88 000 people started to take place, some drove through walls of flame just to get to safety.
The firefighters struggled for days to contain the fire, and it even started to produce pyrocumulus clouds.
Eventually, the fire moved to an area that was unpopulated, but the damage created left people unable to return to their homes for months.
Six years later, the community is still recovering from this disaster.
If you have any questions about natural disaster and storm cleanup and restoration feel free to call us at 1-833-WE-DRY-IT or chat with us in near real-time on our Facebook fan page.
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