Black Friday:  25 Years On (Personal Memories)

Black Friday —say that to anyone who was around the Edmonton area on July 30, 1987 and strong memories are evoked — and I am no different.

It was a hot sticky day that Friday. Blistering sun and the promise of a great long weekend beckoned. I was a month away from being married and was to have a pre-reception tasting at the Fantasyland Grill. That all changed at 3:25. The first indication I had that anything was wrong was a call from my father who was at home in our house near the then named Heritage Mall (now known as Century Park). He called to say the wind was really whipping, a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued, that hail was coming down in softball sizes (he saved some and they stayed in his freezer for years). Then while on the phone Dad tells me he has just heard on the radio that a tornado or something like that had touched down in Mill Woods (actually had touched down in Leduc and Beaumont before heading for Edmonton). The first funnel cloud touched down in the southeast part of Edmonton, in an area that was still fields, most of the land between 34th Street and 17th Street where the greatest winds were focused in the Mill Woods area hadn’t been developed yet. The time was 3:27.

A tornado, with no frame of reference I nonetheless decide to close up the Travel Agency I managed and send the two other employees home. One of the women lived close to where the first touchdown occurred and she called her at home husband who told her he had seen it coming up a field and had taken the roof (or roofs) off houses really close and that she should get home ASAP. She promptly told him to get the heck away from the sliding glass doors and into the basement.

Now some seriousness was starting to be felt. Closing up the agency (the building was on 106 Street and 106 Avenue) just behind where MacEwan University is now. In those days the rail lines were still active and it was a quiet area bar the odd vagrant who would hang around. When I walked out to my car, parked right in front of the two-story walkup I was quickly soaked as the rain/hail was now intense in downtown Edmonton and ankle deep in the parking lot. There was also an eerie green in the sky, the once bright shining sky was now darkly multi-coloured.

I needed to pick up my soon to be Hubby#1 who worked near the Alberta Legislature in Petroleum Plaza, colloquially known as Pet Plaza (108 Street and 99 Avenue) – a drive that even in rush hour long weekend Friday traffic never took more than 8 minutes. Not that day. Setting off about 15:29 I was immediately confronted with what roads/bridge or tunnel to take? At that time there was a bridge over the railway lines at 105 Street and the infamous “Rathole” which was dank and wet on the best of days. (Writer’s note: I loved the old Rathole, loved the darkness, the tightness, the inevitable honking, the close-calls – the uniqueness. I didn’t like the two lanes merging into one and the almost daily stuck trucker who ignored the height restrictions and invariably got stuck or had to back out. Now the High Level Bridge is the Drivers Height Test Area and it too seems to have a trucker every day or so not believing the numerous signs and warnings.) Thinking higher would be best I set off to access the “Fifth Street Bridge” in my new to me car, in my new to me, mid-size car.

It was flooding badly near the underpass under the “Fifth Street Bridge” but I gamely navigated the roads to the bridge approach. This proved to be easier said than done as bigger vehicles than mine were already rolling backwards and I could see water coming over their
vehicles. Hum, maybe this wasn’t the way to go. So towards the “Rathole” I go, crawling along 107^th Avenue I see trucks and cars backing up and when I get within eyesight the reason is apparent – there are flooded and floating vehicles in the Rathole which has water nearly to the top. Crap.

Back towards the Fifth Street Bridge I go (remember the rail lines were still active and there were few options to get over them). This time on the approach I am determined to go slow but steady and not stop! This was the right tactic as I spluttered but was successful! Great now I was downtown proper and “only” had a few blocks to get to Pet Plaza, over one way roads which were now filling with office workers waking up to the fact this storm was one that they wanted to escape as radio stations were now starting to carry stories about this severe storm. (My attempts to get over the rail lines had taken nearly an hour and a half.) I manage to get on 106 Street (a one way southbound street) with slow moving traffic. Roads are flooding from the torrential rain/hail and manhole covers pop due to the intense pressure on the system.

I am listening to the radio all the way, CJCA, with reports from Gord Whitehead and Glenn Yost (who came on the air at 3:30 P.M. just as I am getting in my car). Behind the scenes and also supplying reports were Ed Mason, Bob Layton, the late Bob Lang, Ken Davis, Bill Douglas, Murray Blakely (on CHQT Skyhawk), Sid Smith, Brian Hall, Lesley Primeau and the legendary late Bill Matheson as they do their best to keep up with all the phone calls and relate the news to listeners. There are no words to fully convey what a fantastic job this radio station did during that horrible day and into the evening. They were the voices of calm and reason with relevant information, later it was estimated that 94 % of people turned to CJCA that day. I even hear the report from my Dad about the snowball size hail he had collected and measured and I hear which roads are considered impassable (the Rathole, Fifth Street Bridge, First Street Underpass, the dip at 110 Street and the list went on and on).

Then the news comes in another touchdown near the Sherwood Park Freeway industrial area – this one sounds more serious as it is unknown if infrastructure is compromised but there are reports that semis have been tossed about like dinky toys. Byers Transport would become a name never to be forgotten. CJCA knew people were dead because they were being called from people out there saying they were seeing bodies, send help but the station couldn’t say that until police confirmed the fatalities. Somehow I knew though as the reports were coming as fast and furious as the rain and wind and it seemed impossible that Edmonton would come out of this unscathed.

This was only my second July in Edmonton so I was a neophyte, barely knowing the neighbourhood I lived in let alone know the numerous and far flung neighbours that make up Edmonton. It was not until much later that I appreciated how the tornado had “spared” (a relative term to be sure) refinery row and just how catastrophic explosions would have been had the twister just turned a little more east.

Then more news, Clareview has experienced a touchdown. As I continue to drive through flooded streets I am aware that many on the road are NOT listening to THE News station and have no idea how bad things are. That chilled feeling that has nothing to do with being cold comes over me. It is starting to sink in that people have been hurt and even killed! Then there is THAT report which I hear as I attempt 106 Street which has water lapping my car hood (just keep going, just keep going and do not stop is the mantra I keep telling myself), another touchdown near Evergreen Trailer Park (I had no idea where this actually was but trailer park has increased the grimness in the reporters and I intuitively know this is bad). As I continue the last two blocks to Pet Plaza this storm, this tornado, has already claimed lives that much is known by me as unconfirmed reports are filtering in on the radio. How many people need help is not known as all medical services in Edmonton scramble to get to the affected areas and access situations that no one has a frame of reference for. Then the “All call” is broadcast over the radio station. Huh? All emergency personnel on or off duty were being told to report for duty as tornados have touched down in Edmonton and everyone was needed. A state of emergency was declared for Edmonton so 9-1-1 exploded at 4 P.M. as there was talk of more storms and people overloaded the system to get information, desperate for information, any information. The shock is being replaced by numbness; a sense of the surreal has taken over.

I finally approach Pet Plaza North where my now Hubby#1’s office was and I don’t see him and cannot find a place to pull over. Then I spot him midway between the two towers. I pull over (double parking) and he jumps in the car blasting me the moment he sits down. “We are going to be late, what the hell took you so long, why didn’t you leave on time when you knew we have to be at West Edmonton Mall for 7:30 P.M.” are some of the utterances from him before I can interrupt. It is now 6:30 P.M. and it has taken me THREE hours to get to his workplace. Before he can go on, I say, “There is NO way we are having an advance wedding dinner tonight.” He starts to complain but I interrupt him with that this was no severe rainstorm but that tragedy was unfolding throughout Edmonton with an unknown number of people having been killed and hurt by TORNADOS.”

He had no idea. Didn’t listen to the news and again like many Edmontonians had no reference to Edmonton and Tornados. Those happened in the US Midwest not a city like Edmonton.

We set off for his house (where we still live) it is now 6:38 P.M. with roads a nightmare and me having NO idea how to get to his place in northwest Edmonton without going through the Rathole or one of the over/underpasses. I cannot fully remember which direction I took (I vaguely think I went to 101 Street) I do remember driving on 107 Avenue and seeing vehicles with evident hail damage – dents and shattered windshields. 107 Avenue is not moving but emergency vehicles are trying to get by in all directions (there was an ambulance station along 107^th Avenue and about 106 Street at that time and all of them seemed to be trying to go somewhere – anywhere – all at the same time.) There are few places or space to pull over as the road is flooded and there is debris littering the roadway. I had a full tank of gas when I set off for work that morning and am now at half of a tank. There are no gas stations open and vehicles are running out of gas. Gas lines were affected as were water, power and phone lines and this was 1987 so no one had cellular phones or hybrid vehicles, actually most vehicles are front wheel drive mid-sedan types. (I never let my tank get lower than a half a tank since then because running out of gas would have made a horrible situation that much more desperate.)

On some cross street I don’t remember which I end up on 118^th (Kingsway) Avenue and it is as bad as 107^th Avenue was but I need to get to St. Albert Trail to get to my fiancées house. I can see cars stuck as we pass through 127 Street. The outside and inside lanes in both directions (east and west) are vehicle deep in water. Other cars are turning around or just staying put but I decide to short cut through the adjacent neighbourhood since it is across from our neighbourhood.

It is so dark one would think it was midnight and not eight P.M. or so on a northern summer evening and it is raining again. Pounding, blinding rain that fogs up the windows and which the wipers cannot keep up with as I try to navigate neighbourhood streets that are flooded and unfamiliar to me. Somehow I finally approach St. Albert Trail at Dovercourt Avenue – where I need to cross except I cannot see a thing and neither can my navigator. After a few minutes of seemingly no traffic going by north or south I gun it and without being able to see I cross St. Albert Trail! I was so scared of hitting or being hit but knew that there was no other way of getting across without taking that leap of faith.

Whew, now we are home free or near as. The roads in our neighbourhood are not too bad considering the ones I had just travelled and despite the alley being a foot or so deep in water I park in our car park (we never used the garage in those days) and then we both brave the wind and rain and enter the house. No power, no water and no phone service. Since we cannot call anyone to tell them we were okay or check on anyone else we find a flashlight and check the basement for water. There is none! Other than a few loose fence boards we had no damage. No physical damage.

The power comes on, flickers off and then finally stays on. It is stifling hot but we don’t open the windows or doors because we didn’t know what could still happen. We turn on the TV and there is some local coverage on the “disaster” in Edmonton and area but it is sparse and cuts in and out. The radio proves to be the best source for information that night (CJCA somehow never loses power or transmission). Finally the phone gives us a dial tone and we start making calls. I call my Dad who hasn’t heard from me since he called at 3:25 P.M. and check on my sister and Grandmother who are all fine. Then my at the time fiancée calls his mother who is living in Yellowknife then and is only vaguely aware that something has happened in Edmonton (she owned a restaurant which was still open so she wasn’t watching TV).

National News is now reporting about the Tornado in Edmonton and CNN about a Tornado in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There are reports about fatalities and numerous injuries, extensive damage but no one yet knows the full scope of the disaster. Edmontonians are told to stay off the roads and phones except for emergencies as both are overloaded. Yes, lookey loo’s were already appearing in the areas hit, the southeast, the industrial area on 75^th Street, Clareview and the Evergreen Trailer Park. Meanwhile emergency crews are still digging through rubble as frantic relatives and friends try to locate missing people. Edmonton Police and “ordinary” people did extraordinary things during those next few days. Many drove the injured in their own vehicles to the closest hospital (the Royal Alexandra for Edmonton East and the University Hospital for the Sherwood Park Industrial Park and Mill Woods) all the while needing to avoid flooded over and underpasses and trying to get around grid locked traffic with no place or ability to move over.

I need to get to my then home in southwest Edmonton but want to wait until the roads are not flooded and free of emergency vehicles (as free as they would be). I wait until about 10ish and then head out along St. Albert Trail/Groat Road and through the University area. I remember that the traffic circle at 114 Avenue and 72/73 Street was particularly showing signs of damage as there were tree limbs strewn throughout the circle making it hard to get navigate. 111^th Street is scary calm and there are few vehicles on the roads as I pass Southgate and then Heritage Mall. It is like the day after a nuclear bomb I imagine, silent and calm but somehow foreboding. Finally I get home and call David to tell him I had made it safe and sound.

The next day, Saturday, August 1^st fully reveals the devastation the storm has wrought. In the gleaming sun the next day, the day after Black Friday, people are still unaccounted for and damage to all four quadrants of Edmonton are being reported.

The final toll would be 27 dead and hundreds injured with millions of dollars of damage and a city that was no longer innocent because of a F5 tornado, Mother Nature’s worst fury unleashed. No longer would any Edmontonian who was around on July 31, 1987 view a summer storm as a distraction or as a mild inconvenience. I have talked to people who lost relatives that day and remember one many telling me about losing his brother on Black Friday and having to go to the Medical Examiners to identify his brother’s body. He told me that personnel were so compassionate as if he was the only person there to do the unthinkable. Chilling.

Yet from that day, what made and continues to make Edmonton a true “City of Champions” were the strangers who rallied to help those displaced, as people came together to grieve and Edmontonians became resolute to rise from the previously unthinkable and rebuild, no longer innocent but stronger and determined. In memoriam and respect please know Edmonton will never forget nor will time diminish our collective grief.

Then Edmonton Mayor Laurence Decore a longtime Edmontonian upon viewing the devastation of what was left of the Evergreen Trailer Park was moved to tears and then witnessing the fortitude of the survivors declared Edmonton a “City of Champions” it was more than a moniker, more than a slogan but a proud and true declaration of the spirit of Edmonton. A spirit that was born and challenged on that Black Friday 25 years ago but which proved our mettle, it proved that Edmontonians are more than worthy of the bestowed title. Edmonton: City of Champions.