Historic Photos: Hurricane Hazel of 1954

Bill Creasy photo of Hurricane Hazel aftermath

The Salvation Army helps after Hurricane Hazel

Hurricane Hazel destruction

The Southport waterfront along Bay Street was destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Hazel in Oct. 1954.

A row of oceanfront homes in Carolina Beach after Hurricane Hazel hit on October 15, 1954.

The Asheville Citizen front page of Aug. 17, 1955. One year after Hurricane Hazel, the NC coast is once again battered by Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane.

The Asheville Citizen front page of Aug. 13, 1955. One year after Hurricane Hazel, the NC coast is once again battered by Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane.

The Asheville Citizen front page from Oct. 16, 1954

Front page of Asheville Citizen-Times Oct. 17, 1954

Wreckage of the Ocean Plaza Bathhouse and the Carolina Beach boardwalk.

A fallen tree crushes a car in Chapel Hill as a result of Hurricane Hazel

Beachfront wreckage following Hurricane Hazel, probably at Carolina Beach, NC.

House in Long Beach, NC on pilings, in the process of being relocated to original lot after Hurricane Hazel.

Woman in raincoat wading in shin-deep water on the intersection of Harper Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in Carolina Beach, NC, during Hurricane Hazel.

"U.S. Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr. on a recent tour of the hurricane area is shown here with Bill Robertson, owner of the Kure Fishing Pier at Kure Beach south of Wilmington. Robertson's pier was damaged some by Hurricane Carol and completely destroyed by Hurricane Hazel, but he began reconstruction the day after Hazel and is now virtually ready for his summer business once more."

Men at work repairing house on the North Carolina coast following a hurricane, probably Hazel (1954) or Connie (1955). Caption reads: "Carpenters at work repairing home on Northern Extension of Wrightsville Beach belonging to Charlie Hanna, Texas Oil Co., Charlotte."

Julian Scheer, a reporter for the Charlotte News, wading through debris at Carolina Beach, NC in the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel, as house burns in background. Hurricane Hazel first reached the coast on October 15, 1954.

Julian Scheer wades among floodwaters and debris in front of Chamber of Commerce and "Whale of a Beach" Azalea Festival float, Carolina Beach, NC. Oct. 16, 1954

Women and children observing damage from Hurricane Hazel, probably in Carolina Beach, NC. Large boats washed up on roadway, next to houses, debris visible in background.

Damage from Hurricane Hazel, probably in Carolina Beach, NC. Large boats washed up on roadway, next to houses, debris.

The damaged Lawrence Avenue Bridge, connecting two west Toronto suburbs, is shown in an Oct 17, 1954, photo following Hurricane Hazel. Several communities were isolated by similar washouts. A Category 4 hurricane with peak winds estimated at 140 mph, Hazel smashed shore in 1954, pushing an 18-foot storm surge, one of the highest to ever pound the Carolinas. Hazel came ashore in the Carolinas and from there slogged north through Pennsylvania and New York and into Canada with heavy rains producing severe floods. (AP Photo)

Merlin Bellamy, former police chief of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., talks during an interview Wednesday, April 21, 2004, in his North Myrtle Beach home. Bellamy describes the high waves crashing over the traffic lights when Hurricane Hazel hit the area in 1954. A half century ago, Bellamy and firefighters went door to door along the rows of little beach cottages urging people to evacuate. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky)

Jerry Helms, of Oak Island, N.C., walks near a pier on the beach at Oak Island Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2004, as he talks about surviving Hurricane Hazel in 1954. Helms and his wife rode out Hazel during their honeymoon on Long Beach, N.C., and barely lived to tell the tale. (AP Photo/Willis Glassgow)

Multi-story buildings and a construction project are shown Wednesday April 21, 2004, on North Myrtle Beach, S.C. A half century ago, when Hurricane Hazel hit in 1954, the area was a small village. Now dozens of high-rise hotels line the shore. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky)

In this Oct. 15, 1954 file photo, Hurricane Hazel destruction is seen in Morehead City, N.C. The last time the midsection of the East Coast stared down a hurricane like Florence, Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House and Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were newlyweds. Florence could inflict the hardest hurricane punch the Carolinas have seen in more than 60 years, with rain and wind of more than 130 mph (209 kph). (AP Photo/Clifton Guthrie, File)