Disasters and Natural Hazards

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Disasters and Natural Hazards

Executive Summary

Regina was hit by its first ever tornado on June 30, 1912, but it is still the deadliest tornado in terms of human lives lost to have occurred in all of Canada to date. The tornado was estimated to have been an F4 in magnitude, with wind speeds of 333-418 km/h, and struck without warning to many. It spawned 18 km to the south of Regina and cut northward through the city, passing through it in roughly three minutes. In the event, a total of 28 lives were lost, more than 200 were injured, more than 2500 were left homeless, and $1.2 million of primary monetary losses was incurred at time, which left Regina in debt from reconstruction costs for 40 years.

Disaster Time and Location

At sometime between 4:45 p.m. (Regina: The Early Years, 2014) to 5:00 p.m. (Saskatchewan Archives Board, 2011) local time on Dominion Day, June 30, 1912, a funnel cloud, and possibly a second funnel cloud which dissipated early on, touched down 18 km to the south of Regina, Saskatchewan, near 50.4547° N, 104.6067° W (see Figure 1), and travelled north along the ground (see Figure 2). The tornado, popularly called the Regina Cyclone, first cut through several farmlands, then Wascana Lake, before hitting downtown Regina (Heidorn, K.C., 2008), and continued to travel 12 km north past the city of Regina until it subsided (Saskatchewan Archives Board, 2011). The tornado was three blocks wide (Heidorn, K.C., 2008), and managed to demolish farms, residential areas, the downtown core, and the warehouse and railway districts (CBC, 2013). It traversed the city in about three minutes (Regina Public Library, 2007).

Disaster Context and Drivers

It is not surprising that the 1912 tornado occurred in the prairie...

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Regina:The Early Years. (2014). Cyclone of 1912. Regina: The Early Years 1880 -1950. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/regina/central/cyclone.html

Figure 5. Winnipeg Elevator after the cyclone, year 1912

Regina:The Early Years. (2014). Cyclone of 1912. Regina: The Early Years 1880 -1950. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/regina/central/cyclone.html

Figure 6. Warehouse district after the cyclone, year 1912

Regina:The Early Years. (2014). Cyclone of 1912. Regina: The Early Years 1880 -1950. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/regina/central/cyclone.html

Figure 7. Number of Tornadoes Per Year Per 10,000 km in Canada

Anderson, B. (2011). United States.AccuWeather. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/anderson/tornado-zones-in-canada-1/50470

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