1906 Tornado

 1906 Hurricane Tornado 

“If there is anything closer to cyclone or tornado without being the real thing, then the vicious storm of wind, rain and electrics that visited Hamilton yesterday, the people of this city do not want it to come this way. The example of yesterday was a little more than enough for them. There was never anything like it before in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and that the like may never be seen again is the earnest prayer of both old and young.”

Hamilton Spectator June 9 1906

It was approaching midnight on Thursday June 7, 1906 when the residents of the City of Hamilton experienced competing air currents. Cold winds battled hot winds for mastery of the air.

Overnight the hot temperatures came to solely dominate, and Hamiltonians beginning their day anticipated that it would be a scorcher.

That was a correct assumption as by mid-afternoon, the readings at the big on street thermometer at Parke and Parke’s drug store were well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

To the west, particularly over the table lands of Ancaster Township, dark threatening storm clouds began to gather:

“For a long time it appeared to be nothing more serious than the ordinary summer afternoon exhibition common to a sultry day 

“Then there came a change. It gathered into a dirty-coloured mass which quickly changed into an inky black, and out of the black background often and ever more rapidly flashed the lightning.”

Spectator

As described in the Times, the deteriorating weather conditions were only too obvious to most citizens:

“The storm came from almost due west, and gave plenty of warning of its coming in the forms of black clouds, rumblings of thunder and gusts of wind that showed in ominous looking swirls in the sky. These symptoms probably were the salvation of some, for they warned people away from small boats.

When the storm was getting close to the city about 3 p.m., many noted that it was moving very quickly, a wild, mad rush:

“ To plagiarize and alter slightly a well-known poem. Down came the storm and smote amain the city in its strength. Wind, rain and lightning all came together, and in much less time than it takes to tell of it. A few fitful gusts, a few mighty drops and the tempest swooped down. Almost in an instant, the air was thick with rain, and the tempest breath was like a devouring blast, wrecking all things which no mighty strength could move.” (Spec)

The Times reporter was also challenged to describe the impact of the storm’s arrival :

“For terrific violence and downright wickedness of its every aspect, the storm of June 8 1906 will be long remembered. It drove timid women into the fancied security of darkened rooms, and made strong men wonder what was coming next. 

“It spread destruction in its path and left mothers and children without a roof over their heads. Lightning played with incessant leap and flash for minutes at a time – minutes that seemed five times as long – thunder rolled near and far; rain fell not in showers, but in sheets going through the air almost like a river from west to east, and the wind hissed, and moaned, and roared and shrieked.”

The noise caused by the storm was terrifying:

“There was a perfect bedlam of noise from the streets. The wind made a music all its own. The roar of the tempest was continuous and deafening and was broken only by the nearby crashings which told of chimneys, plate glass windows, trees, roofs and other things going down in the general destruction.

“There was no withstanding the blast. Where it struck with a full, fair blow, something had to give. Mighty trees in the parks and avenues, that had stood the storms, winter and summer, of many years, bowed their heads to the destroying element. If they stood too firmly in their strength, they were uprooted; if they yielded a little, their great branches were torn and twisted and flung from them out onto the roadways, over against nearby dwellings and across electric wires, bringing poles down with them in the general destruction.” ( Spec )

The storm hit Hamilton at an in opportune time for each of the city’s three daily newspapers: 

“With its up-to-date the Times suffered no inconvenience through the storm, but both the Spectator and the Herald were hit. The storm came on just about press time, when these papers had only part of their issue printed, and the lightning put the power out of business.

“The Spectator was probably the worse off , but the Times press ran merrily, and the people of Hamilton had all the news from a reliable source. The newsboys made a harvest by advancing the price of the paper.

“Later in the afternoon, the Herald completed its edition, and the Spectator was delivered to customers late at night.” (Times) 

Ladies were given attention in the Times report : 

“There was trouble in several of the large uptown stores, caused by the excessive heat and excitement attendant upon breaking glass and other effects of the storm. In some of the stores, women fainted and had to be taken care of until the storm was over, and then sent home in hacks.

“The scene at the race track is almost beyond description. Being ladies’ day, there was a large crowd of the fair sex present, many being accompanied by children and without escorts.

“Just as the storm broke out, the horses were parading for the second race. The next instant there was great excitement. As the storm grew in violence, the excitement in the grandstand became intense. 

“Children and women cried aloud, and many, fearing the stand would collapse, ran out into the open. Others crowded into the barroom, where everything possible was done to calm them. 

“The rain blew through the stand in sheets. When the storm was at its height, it was impossible to see inside the fence of the running track.”

There was some concern about how the passenger steamships connecting Hamilton and Toronto were impacted by the storm:

“ ‘It was a very picturesque storm,’ said the Modjeska’s good-natured captain, ‘but it did not bother us at all. The lake was rough, the wind very strong and the lightning vivid, but the Modjeska kept right along as if all were sunshine. The same may be said of the Macassa.’

“The Turbinia made her trips just as fast as ever, and just as if there had been no storm.”

On Hamilton’s, waterfront, the storm caused serious damage to the boathouses. Both Weir’s and Bastien’s boathouses were badly impacted structurally by the storm with both Mr. Weir and  Mr. H. L. Bastien himself receiving serious injuries. At one point, it was estimated that there were 30 boats adrift in the bay having been blown from their moorings. 

It was along the Heights from the cemetery past the Desjardins Cut that the storm was seen and felt dramatically:

“The people who were on the heights yesterday afternoon had a genuine taste at what a Texas cyclone is. The heights, particularly near the high level bridge, was the scene of the wildest disorder, and the fury of the storm seemed to concentrate there. The heights have always been feared for the violence of wind storms, because to the west of it is the whole survey of the Dundas Marsh. The storm broke on the heights with terrific force. People living in the city, where the wind was broken by the trees and buildings thought that the violence of the storm had reached the limit, but on the heights it was far worse. The wind held waves of rain that it carried along, drenching everything in its path. Telegraph and telephone poles were snapped off like matches.” (Spec) 

 

“The storm of yesterday afternoon was one of unusual violence and it swept over a vast extent of country, causing damage which, in the aggregate, will amount to a considerable sum.

“From various parts of the province came reports of buildings more or less wrecked, roofs blown off, chimneys destroyed and trees and fences demolished.

“In this city, much damage was inflicted but happily, in most instances, the individual losses were not serious.in a few cases, however, extensive damage was inflicted. All over the city, the shade trees suffered and the streets were littered with branches and fallen trees. Much glass was broken, some of the stores being heavy losers by the accidents and by the deluge of drifting rain that accompanied the storm. In many homes, great terror was caused by the violence of the wind and the sudden darkness that fell upon the city. Fortunately, however, there are no fatalities to report, and even the money loss caused is trivial compared to what most people counted on during the outburst.

“We escaped well; let us be thankful.”

(Times editorial)