The days that tested Windsor-Essex, and the people who pulled together: tornadoes, flu, lake storms, floods, a continental blackout, a pandemic, and a blocked bridge. Verified from disaster databases, courts, parks and news archives; gaps and holds stay labelled.
17 June 1946. Harry G. Garland. Tornado over Windsor from across the Detroit River. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cross-link Booms and Busts for the timeline card.Hotel Dieu, 1913. Gardner souvenir book. Public domain. A place of care in the 1918 flu and every crisis since.
The Great Fire of 1871
The Great Fire of Windsor, 12 to 13 October 1871. Aftermath on Sandwich Street, looking west toward Ouellette from about Goyeau, with a steam fire engine still on the scene. The archive notes that the brick remains are likely the Cameron Thorburn building. Walkerville Times Collection. Courtesy of the Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive (SWODA), Leddy Library, University of Windsor. Public domain. Source record
Fire hall, about 1915
Fire hall, Windsor, about 1915. A postcard of the fire hall on the north side of Pitt Street, between Windsor Avenue and McDougall Avenue, later known as central station no. 2. The archive notes that the Windsor Fire Department's first motorized fire truck, acquired in 1914, is on display. Signs for Meretsky & Gitlin, furniture and stoves, and for Hawkins Grocer are also visible. Published by Valentine and Sons Publishing Co., identifier 111,962 J.V. Mike Skreptak Collection, Black Binder 2. Courtesy of the Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive (SWODA), Leddy Library, University of Windsor. Public domain. Source record
Tornadoes
1946 and 1974. Booms and Busts keeps the 1946 timeline entry; we open the free Garland photograph and the curling-club memory here.
Free to use
Windsor-Tecumseh tornado, 17 June 1946
F4; 17 killed; third-deadliest tornado in Canadian records
Canadian Disaster Database: Windsor to Tecumseh, 17 June 1946; 17 dead; about 400 homes damaged; 150 barns and farm buildings destroyed. Environment Canada's historical table ranks it third among Canada's deadliest tornadoes (after Regina 1912 and Edmonton 1987). Windsor Public Library and contemporary accounts: early evening, crossed the Detroit River from Michigan, landfall around Brighton Beach, path through what is now LaSalle toward Tecumseh; rated F4. Families leaned on neighbours, the Red Cross and a local relief fund when government money was scarce. We do not name victims or show gore. Cross-link the timeline entry and resilience card on Booms and Busts (and #bb-tornado when the who's-missing deepen is live). This tab opens the human aftermath and the free Garland storm photo.
Sources: Canadian Disaster Database event 652; Environment Canada historical tornado table (archive); Windsor Public Library Tornado 1946; BAMS / CBC secondary confirmations for path and F4
Harry G. Garland. Tornado over Windsor, Ontario, 17 June 1946. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0 (uploaded by GarlandFamily). Looking across the Detroit River. Not an outlet photo.
Photo wanted
Windsor Curling Club tornado, 3 April 1974
Nine dead; Environment Canada ranks among Canada's deadliest
Environment Canada's historical table: Windsor, 3 April 1974, 9 dead. Windsor Public Library and CBC anniversary reporting remember the Windsor Curling Club strike and survivors who still carry the day. Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project FAQ lists the same fatality count (and notes an F1 rating in that summary; intensity labels can differ by source, so we lead with the death toll and date, not a contested Fujita claim). Neighbours, firefighters and hospital staff pulled people from the wreckage. No free Commons damage photo cleared tonight that is not an outlet file; text-led with heart.
Sources: Environment Canada historical tornado table; Windsor Public Library Tornado 1974; CBC Windsor anniversary features; Western University NTP FAQ
Photo wanted. Share yours through the family photo or story note below.
Flu, hospitals and care
1918 influenza and the wards that carried the border cities.
Ambassador Bridge. Crisco 1492, 31 May 2025. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. The crossing snarled in the 2003 blackout and was blockaded in February 2022.
Hotel Dieu, 1895. From Souvenir: Windsor and Walkerville. SWODA / Leddy. Public domain.Grace Hospital, about 1950. SWODA / Leddy. Public domain.
Free to use
1918 influenza in Windsor-Essex
October and November 1918; hospitals overflowed; neighbours filled the gaps
Windsor Public Library and Windsor Star anniversary reporting (drawing on local death registration patterns): October and November 1918 brought a sharp rise in influenza deaths, with WPL citing at least 126 local deaths in those two months alone and noting many more likely died at home without a formal diagnosis. Hotel-Dieu was overwhelmed; emergency care spaces opened, and the Salvation Army's hospital work in the city is part of the care story that later includes Grace Hospital. We tell institutions and community response, not patient names. Cross-link Women of Windsor for Hotel-Dieu's founding sisters.
Sources: Windsor Public Library Spanish Flu Epidemic 1918; Windsor Star COVID-era retrospective on 1918 flu (secondary); Windsor Historical Society influenza leaflet (secondary); Hotel-Dieu institutional history
Hotel Dieu, Windsor, 1913. Gardner souvenir book. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons / women-of-windsor free set. Place of care, not a flu ward interior.
Free to use
Grace and the long care line
Salvation Army Grace Hospital and later wards
Grace Hospital (Salvation Army) became another pillar of border-city care after the flu generation. Free SWODA postcard stands for the building. Patient stories stay private; we honour the people who staffed wards when the city was afraid.
Salvation Army Grace Hospital, Windsor, about 1950. SWODA / Leddy Library. Public domain.
Storms, floods and ice
The 1913 White Hurricane's Walkerville tie, the 2016 and 2017 rains, and ice-storm mutual aid.
Free to use
Great Lakes Storm of 1913
White Hurricane; local tie via Walkerville cargo on SS Regina
Canadian Encyclopedia: the November 1913 Great Lakes storm (the White Hurricane) was one of the worst disasters in Great Lakes shipping history, with multiple freighters lost especially on Lake Huron. Local tie, carefully framed: the Canadian steamer Regina had loaded cargo at Walkerville before she was lost on Lake Huron with no survivors; later salvage recovered bottled goods from the wreck (contemporary and centenary reporting). We do not turn shipwreck cargo into adventure. The storm's wider death toll and wreck list belong to the Lakes; Windsor's tie is the Walkerville loading and the families who waited for news.
Sources: Canadian Encyclopedia Great Lakes Storm of 1913; centenary reporting on Regina / Walkerville cargo (Windsor Star; Spirits Business secondary); NUMA / wreck summaries for Regina (secondary, cross-check)
Weather map of the Great Lakes storm of 7 November 1913, often called the White Hurricane. This is an upper-lakes storm record, not a photograph of the Windsor waterfront or of SS Regina. Original 1913 weather map, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Map of ships lost in the Great Lakes storm of November 1913. This is an upper-lakes wreck chart, not a map of Windsor harbour and not a photograph of SS Regina. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Photo wanted
September 2016 and August 2017 rain floods
Record rains over Windsor and Tecumseh; basements and streets underwater
CBC: 29 Sep 2016 storm set a local rain record, with Tecumseh seeing up to about 195 mm in roughly 12 hours. Canadian Disaster Database and municipal reporting cover the twin flood years; August 2017 brought another extreme rain (about 140 to 200 mm in under 48 hours in Tecumseh reporting). Basements flooded, streets became canals, and neighbours helped neighbours pump and clear. Municipalities later spent heavily on flood mitigation. This is a resilience chapter still being built in sewers and sumps.
Sources: CBC Windsor rain-record report (29 Sep 2016); Canadian Disaster Database flood event records; Tecumseh / Windsor municipal flood updates; Windsor Star mitigation follow-ups (secondary)
Photo wanted. Share yours through the family photo or story note below.
Photo wanted
Ice and mutual aid
1998 ice storm spared Windsor; 2013 EnWin crews helped Toronto
Statistics Canada's Ice Storm '98 analysis centres on eastern Ontario and Quebec; Windsor was not a major impact zone. In December 2013, when ice took down power across the Toronto area, EnWin sent a crew from Windsor to help restore power, working long days before coming home for Christmas (CBC / Star). Resilience here is also showing up for another city's dark streets.
Sources: Statistics Canada Ice Storm '98; CBC Windsor EnWin crew return; Windsor Star EnWin Toronto assist reports
Photo wanted. Share yours through the family photo or story note below.
Blackout
14 August 2003. The lights went out across the Northeast; Windsor answered street by street.
Free to use
Northeast blackout, 14 August 2003
About 208,000 Windsor-area customers dark; bridge and tunnel snarled
CBC and CTV anniversary reporting: Windsor lost power with the 14 Aug 2003 Northeast blackout; local accounts put roughly 208,000 customers affected. Traffic lights failed, elevators stalled, and the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit River tunnel saw closures or severe disruption that backed up trucks and trade. Couples married by flashlight; neighbours shared coolers and checked on seniors. The grid failure started far from here; the response was local.
Sources: CBC Windsor blackout anniversary features; CTV Windsor anniversary feature; Wikipedia Northeast blackout of 2003 (for wider grid context only, not local counts)
Chris Woodrich / Crisco 1492. Ambassador Bridge, Windsor, 31 May 2025. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Place context for the crossing that snarled in 2003; not a 2003 photo.
COVID and community
Lockdowns, lonely goodbyes, and thousands of volunteer deliveries.
Photo wanted
COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex
2020 to 2022; lockdowns, surplus deaths, and neighbours who delivered
CBC: Windsor-Essex moved into lockdown amid a December 2020 surge. Funeral homes and hospital chaplains described a lonely time to die as visitation rules tightened. In the same season, a Windsor Facebook volunteer group made thousands of grocery and PPE deliveries for seniors and people who could not safely shop (CBC). Advocates also flagged shortages of food and protective equipment for migrant farm workers (Star). We record policy dates and community care without glamorizing the virus or naming private patients.
Sources: CBC Windsor lockdown and funeral/chaplain features; CBC volunteer delivery feature; Windsor Star migrant-worker PPE reporting (secondary)
Photo wanted. Share yours through the family photo or story note below.
Ambassador Bridge 2022
Public record only: dates, injunction, clear-out and reopen. No glamorizing.
Free to use
Ambassador Bridge blockade, February 2022
7 to 13 Feb 2022; injunction 11 Feb; bridge reopened after police clear
Public record, kept factual: protesters blockaded the Ambassador Bridge approach in Windsor beginning the evening of 7 Feb 2022, stopping a critical trade crossing. On 11 Feb 2022, Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz granted an injunction requiring the blockade to end (City of Windsor v. Persons Unknown). Police cleared the blockade on 13 Feb; the bridge reopened overnight into 14 Feb (CBC, Reuters). Residents on the blocked streets lived with noise, idling and fear; workers and shippers lost shifts and loads. We do not glamorize the blockade or the politics around it. We record the court order, the clear-out, and the neighbours who wanted their street and their bridge back.
Sources: Ontario Superior Court injunction materials / 2022 ONSC 1168 reporting; CBC Windsor blockade and reopen coverage; Reuters reopen report; Windsor Police Service POEC closing submissions (secondary context)
Chris Woodrich. Ambassador Bridge from the Detroit River, Windsor, 27 Jul 2025. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Crossing in ordinary times; not a protest image.
Chapters in view
Kyle put Disaster and resilience on the list. This preview follows the approved RCR card design used on Windsor Minds and Women of Windsor.
1. Tornadoes
1946 F4 and 1974 Curling Club, with Booms and Busts holding the timeline card.
2. Flu and care
1918 influenza and the hospital line that carried the city.
3. Storms and floods
1913 White Hurricane local tie, 2016/2017 rains, ice and mutual aid.
4. Blackout
2003 blackout across Ontario and the US Northeast.
5. COVID and the bridge
Community delivery networks; 2022 blockade on the public record only.
Still open
Free photos still needed: 1974 curling-club aftermath with non-outlet licence; 2016/2017 flood stills from City / ERCA open licence; 2003 blackout street scene with clear rights; EnWin mutual-aid crew photo with utility permission.
Fees / commercial (price to Kyle before any buy; buy nothing tonight): Windsor Star / Postmedia tornado, flood, blackout and blockade file photos. No price quote pulled tonight.
Permission, not a listed fee: City emergency-management photos; EnWin historical images; hospital archive non-patient exteriors already partly covered by PD postcards.
Primary digs still open: Regina shipping documents; 1918 death-registration table PDF; Tecumseh / Windsor flood After Action reports; POEC / court file excerpts already public.
Do not claim: outlet storm photos as free; 1998 ice storm as a Windsor disaster; glamorizing the 2022 blockade; any unrelated plant story outside the verified record.
Credits and rights
1946 tornado: Harry G. Garland, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Commons (not an outlet photo). Hotel-Dieu 1913 / 1895 and Grace c.1950: public domain (Gardner book / SWODA). Ambassador Bridge: Crisco 1492 / Chris Woodrich, CC BY-SA 4.0. Star / wire storm and flood files are not used. We do not buy art licences tonight.
Research: Canadian Disaster Database; Environment Canada tables; WPL; CHRS-adjacent storm notes; CBC / court public record for 2022. Nothing on this page is live until Kyle OKs the exact text and layout. Seen a mistake, or have a free photo with clear rights? Tell us.
All chapters
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