On this day in 1987, Edmonton's recent Black Friday tornado was being declared the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history.
Several weeks after the infamous tornado tore through the city's eastern end, a vice-president of Canada's Insurance Bureau estimated insured losses caused by the storm at $250 million. The final cost is now estimated at around $330 million in 1987 dollars, or $700 million adjusted for inflation.
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Meteorologists watched Edmonton's skies with concern on July 31, 1987. The summer heat had already caused several strong thunderstorms in the week prior, and another storm was rolling in from southern Alberta. But no one was prepared for what happened next.
The tornado was first reported just before 3pm, when it briefly touched down near Leduc. A few minutes later, the twister touched down again outside Beaumont and began gaining strength. For the next hour, it travelled north, cutting through areas of Millwoods, Refinery Row, and up into Clareview and Fraser. It then finally set upon the Evergreen trailer home park, where 15 people died. It would later be classified as an F4 tornado, which includes winds of up to 418 kilometres an hour. Some have speculated that it could have been categorized as an F5, although that was not officially confirmed.
By the time it was over, 27 people were dead. Hundreds of homes were damaged, with some completely flattened.
Even after the tornado passed, emergency crews faced a dangerous situation. People were still trapped in collapsed and damaged buildings, and the tornado had caused fires, floods, and gas leaks in the areas it ripped through. There was also damage in the industrial areas east of the city, including one derailed train carrying hazardous materials. The city's ambulance system was utterly overwhelmed, and some of the injured had to be taken to hospitals in whatever vehicles were available.
The search for survivors continued for another 24 hours. In addition to the city's first responders, emergency workers from surrounding communities joined in the effort, as well as members from nearby Canadian Forces bases. The Red Cross set up a disaster relief centre for those who had been left homeless by the storm, with hundreds of volunteers lending support.
Black Friday changed the lives of many Edmontonians and altered how Alberta responds to natural disasters. It demonstrated the importance of providing immediate information to people during a disaster and led to the creation of Alberta's emergency alert system. It was also one of the catalysts for Canada's Doppler weather tracking system. While "City of Champions" was a nickname given to the city after its sports successes in the 1980s, it became cemented as part of Edmonton's identity when then-mayor Laurence Decore used it to describe the mass of volunteers who helped in the aftermath of the tornado.
Unfortunately, more costly disasters have followed Black Friday. The 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray is now considered Canada's most costly, at nearly $10 billion. The province's emergency alert system has remained an essential legacy of Black Friday, especially in the face of ever-worsening summer wildfires. This week, high temperatures have led to more concern about wildfires in the province.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.