On November 8, 1913, the U.S. weather bureau broadcast its forecast from Cleveland: “Snow or rain and colder Saturday.”
Two massive fronts were swooping into the Great Lakes region from opposite directions. One was a cold front from the Arctic, the other was a warm and moist front from the Gulf of Mexico.
The ROM is presenting The Great Storm of 1913 until April 14.
Lasting 72 hours, the Great Storm of 1913 that began Nov. 9 ran 19 ships aground and drowned 244 people.
The largest of the vessels were over 500 feet long. The Regina and the Wessex, which both went down, were over 250 feet. Wind speeds during the 16-hour storm averaged 60 miles per hour, at times reaching 85 miles per hour with waves estimated at 35 feet.
In the violence of the storm, Captain McConkey of the S.S. Regina ordered his crew to abandon ship for fear of capsizing. McConkey remained aboard. His body was washed ashore afterwards with writings of the storm in his pocket.
This small, yet evocative exhibit is presented in conjunction with the museums of Huron and Bruce Counties. Viewers may witness ship building plans, instruments, pictures, and a documentary video.
There are also details of dive teams’ recovery missions for lost ships of the storm. Stylishly mobile, the artifact stands are the very wooden crates that the pieces are shipped in. However good the contents of the exhibit, though, they lack context. More history such as newspaper articles, personal journals or letters surrounding the storm would have been interesting to look at.
