93 years since the Halifax Explosion...

[Ogyshi]

As of yesterday. I would have liked to talk about this on the anniversary, but studying for my exam forbade it. (As fate would have it, I was studying for an exam on industrial safety and loss management...)

I currently live in Halifax and researched the Halifax Explosion a fair bit while living here, but for those of you who are unaware of what the Halifax Explosion was and what it's effects were, it is considered to be the largest accidental human caused explosion to have occurred in the world. At 9:04 Dec. 6, 1917 a ship carrying wartime explosives detonated due to an accidental collision with another ship in the harbour. 2,000 people were killed, and 9,000 people were injured, including a very large number of them killed or blinded due to shattered glass as they watched from the windows up to 16 km away. (This killed more Nova Scotians than WW1 did directly.) The explosion was felt or heard even 360 km away. And... as luck would have it, Halifax reportedly witnessed it's most severe blizzard of the century that very night of the incident, just after the majority of the city was left homeless or without adequate housing. That is some bad luck.

Fortunately, a lot of aid was offered to Halifax during this time, most notably from the Boston Red Cross. Each year as a thank-you, the city of Halifax donates the biggest, most beautiful tree it can find to Boston to be used as it's official tree in the Boston Common. A Christmas tradition that actually means something.

I frequently think about what Halifax might be like if this never occurred. For one, the entire North End would have a different structure and function, as it was obliterated and rebuilt entirely. And undoubtably, those 2,000 people and their children would have had a different effect on the world if they had lived. But, this explosion also lead to increased medical knowledge in treating eye injuries, as there was a high demand for it. So there was a small bit of good in an otherwise gloomy aftermath after all.

I would like to start a discussion here now about... well, disastrous events in the recent or distant path and how they may have affected your lives... in a very general, whatever you think is appropriate way. Also, traditions, and which ones have meaningful history to you. Also, just comments.  

[Mukuchina Kurasu]

Ogyshi

And... as luck would have it, Halifax reportedly witnessed it's most severe blizzard of the century that very night of the incident, just after the majority of the city was left homeless or without adequate housing. That is some bad luck.

Seriously?? I was unaware of that... wow. That is terrible luck...  

[Ogyshi]

Bongardo

Ogyshi

And... as luck would have it, Halifax reportedly witnessed it's most severe blizzard of the century that very night of the incident, just after the majority of the city was left homeless or without adequate housing. That is some bad luck.

Seriously?? I was unaware of that... wow. That is terrible luck...

?!?! I did not know you were in this guild. Hello.
And yes, yes it is terrible.  

[Taeryyn]

The explosion... sad

I'm from Nova Scotia, and I've lived in Halifax (although I'm not native to that area of the province). I'm not really sure what to say about it, though.
We studied it in school, of course, in great detail. In 2005 I got a chance to see a wonderful play called Shatter, which was set right before, during, and after the explosion. Needless to say, it was extremely moving.

It's depressing to think about how badly the city was devastated. Halifax is the biggest city in the province, but it can have a small-town feel, especially for people who've lived there a long time. I think the disaster still sort of lingers in the collective memories of Nova Scotians, even though there probably aren't very many people still alive who actually experienced it.

My mother has been doing genealogical research for our family, and unfortunately, she's run into one of the effects of the explosion: thousands and thousands of legal documents were destroyed. In her case, she'll never know where her father came from. It goes without saying that this is trivial compared to the lives lost and the people who were injured, though.

Anyway, I'm glad that the Christmas tree is still being sent to Boston every year. :3 The city deserves it.  

[PixiecuTT]

Well this isn't a topic I ever expected to see here. (Yet another Nova Scotian here.)

When I travel to Halifax, it's hard to reconcile what I see there today with my mental image of the aftermath of the explosion. Like, I try to imagine what it would be like if my current city of residence suddenly got partially blown to bits, and I can't wrap my head around it.

Thank goodness, I guess. Seriously, how do you pick up the pieces and go on with life after something like that? I'm not sure if the fact that it was an accident would make it easier or harder to get over.  

[Ogyshi]

Taeryyn

My mother has been doing genealogical research for our family, and unfortunately, she's run into one of the effects of the explosion: thousands and thousands of legal documents were destroyed.

Oh god... I thought you were going to say you found evidence that some of your late relatives died in the explosion... That would have been an unsettling find.

PixiecuTT

I'm not sure if the fact that it was an accident would make it easier or harder to get over.

I think the fact that it was an accident makes it more difficult. I did a domino effect model of this incident as an assignment for class and I discovered so many reasons why this went wrong and how it could have been prevented. It was just carelessness. The kind of carelessness you see when people bump into each other the street, except in this case it involved ships and explosives. It's really upsetting.


It's quite nice to see other Nova Scotians here. (Including my brother Bongardo whom I had no idea was even in this guild... sweatdrop That was a surprise.)  

[Taeryyn]

I would be surprised to find either of my brothers on Gaia, let alone in this guild. >.> But yes, it is nice to see fellow Maritimers here.


Also, all things considered, it's possible that one of my relatives was killed or injured in the explosion, but I am happy to say that we haven't seen any evidence of it.  

[Surazal Dloc]

To take this conversation down the other path mentioned about what it would be like if it didn't happen. I somewhat agree with the whole multiple universes theory. I love to theorise how different other worlds would be because events happened slightly different or not at all.

You say that Halifax donate a tree each year. If the explosion never happened then it'd be doubtful they would be sending trees. and perhaps the Christmas spirit in both areas wouldn't be as high because that tradition wouldn't be there.

Those 2,000 people that died would have continued to interact with the would, and it would very quickly become a different place to what we know as today.