Story written Dorothy (Smith) Alexander for the Sarnia Historical Society
You can view all of the pictures from the story, take here.
Thursday the 21st of May, 1953 started off like any other work day but did not end that way. It was my father’s birthday so a birthday celebration was planned for the dinner hour.
My job was switchboard operator/receptionist in the original Sarnia City Hall, located where the government offices are now, at the end of Lochiel and Christina Streets.
A neighbour, Ida Welch, lived a block north of my home and we drove to and from work together. This day Ida parked on Lochiel Street in front of what was the Bell Telephone building on the corner of Lochiel and Vidal Streets.
The day started off with cool weather but warmed up as the day progressed. Shortly after lunch it started to look like we could have a storm as the sky got really dark. In those days there was no such thing as warnings of pending severe weather. When we left work for the day it had started to rain but nothing significant as we headed to our homes. We only had heavy rains in the south part of the city where as in downtown they had hail the size of walnuts and very heavy winds. It was an F4 rated Tornado and hit Sarnia at 5:45 p.m. DST on Thursday May 21st. It gathered up strength enroute as Port Huron, Michigan also took a hit.
I had just arrived home when Williard Simpson, City Treasurer (and my boss) called and told me to get back to City Hall as fast as I could by whatever means I had. He said that a tornado had gone through downtown and the devastation was really bad. I walked back from Stuart Street zigzagging northwest and through Victoria Park where the library was. It was not until I got slightly farther north I saw what Mr. Simpson was referring to.
Mayor Bill Nelson was away when this happened and Clayton Saylor, one of the council members was acting mayor. Mr. Saylor had me contact the military at Ipperwash beach for help. Other calls were made to the OPP in London, Chatham, Dundas, Hamilton and Woodstock detachments. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were also brought in. The Riot Act was read at 11 p.m. that night which forbid people from coming downtown to assess what was going on.
The entire area was cordoned and manned by the police. Anyone entering the area had to have a Police Pass. There was $5 million in damages and more than 20 blocks had uprooted trees, tangled telephone, electric cables and roofless houses. Thirty-eight people were injured and over 500 people were homeless. Later it was assessed the damage was around $10 million dollars.
“Lucky” Turner of the London Free Press and “Scoop” McLean of the Sarnia Observer set up an area in the foyer of City Hall as a news command post. In the following days people were coming from all over Ontario to see the damage however access was not provided in the immediate damaged area. Having a Police Pass I was able to take a lot of photos of the damaged buildings.
Second stories of businesses like Taylor’s Furniture no longer existed. On the west side of Front Street, second and third floors on the river side no longer existed. It is hard to put into words the devastation. Cars parked on the street or behind some of the buildings were either flattened or tossed into the river. It damaged and destroyed homes in the Oxford Street area south of Exmouth Street as it exited the city. The only thing missing from City Hall was the Welcome Sign above the main entrance. Buildings all around were damaged but the Tornado spared City Hall. One of the most impressive damages was that of the old Imperial Theatre on Christina Street. It was several doors north of the current Imperial Theatre. There were balconies in the building with beautiful structure. Part of it was open to the sky and gave an eerie feeling to see. I would compare it with a bombed building.
The days following the Boy Scouts directed traffic and numerous people came to assist in the major cleanup. I understand that something around $6000.00 was collected to assist those hardest hit by the tornado. That was a lot of money in 1953.
My dad did not have his birthday celebration that day and we often teased him ‘what is going to happen for your next birthday.’ Hopefully this is a once in a lifetime experience for me. I would rather watch something like this from a movie theatre seat.