Death toll of the storm

Numbers vary when it comes to victims of the Great Storm of 1913. Some reports indicate that 250 people lost their lives across the Great Lakes during this storm. Between 175 and 200 sailors died on Lake Huron. The Lake Carrier’s Association reported: “…as nearly as can be traced, 235 sailors lost their lives in this storm, 44 of them on Lake Superior, 7 on Lake Michigan, 6 of Lake Erie and 178 on Lake Huron.” Records management standards in 1913 were not what they are today and this is why different sources give different estimates of the number of lives that were lost during the storm. It was mentioned during the inquest that many of the maritime companies did not have up-to-date crew lists. Of all the lives lost in the Great Storm, only 25% of the bodies were ever recovered.

In the days following the Great Storm of 1913, there was a large amount of wreckage that washed ashore along the Canadian and American sides of Lake Huron. The debris and bodies that washed ashore after the Great Storm told the story of the storm’s ferocity and strength. Although much of the debris washed ashore in the weeks following the storm, the following spring, bodies and debris were still being found. This was the case for Captain Edward McConkey and his diary.