Hurricane Hazel was the worst hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the worst hurricanes of the 20th century. Hazel killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States just south of Wilmington, North Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane. 19 people were killed in North Carolina, and 81 people were killed when it hit Toronto, Ontario. It is the strongest hurricane ever recorded to strike so far inland.