Leaving death and wreckage in its wake, the worst storm ever to slam Toronto heralded a new approach to urban planning in the city.

Hurricane Hazel ripped through Toronto 62 years ago, on Oct. 15, 1954. With it came winds reaching 124 kilometres an hour and more than 200 millimetres of rain falling every 48 hours.

In its wake, 81 people were killed, 1,868 left homeless and a damage cost equal to $1 billion today. Entire houses built on flood plains were swept away, roads washed out, bridges gone.

But the hurricane also left a lasting fingerprint on Toronto, with city planners working to figure out why Hazel was so devastating to the city.

The need for green spaces which absorb water led planners to rethink development projects destined for floodplains. Marie Curtis Park now sits in the place of houses in the parkland at the south end of Etobicoke Creek.

Thirty-two houses were washed away on Raymore Dr., next to the Humber River in Weston. Parkland has since been added to the area, and the street size has been reduced.

The G. Ross Lord Dam, near Finch Ave. and Dufferin St. in the Don River watershed, and the Claireville Dam, near Hwy. 427 and Finch Ave, were both created to control flooding in the area.

About three years after Hurricane Hazel, four conservation authorities came together to form the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, designed to oversee watershed management and sustainability practices.

With files from Star staff