Firefighters rescue stranded Hwy. 410 motorists as more rain hits GTA
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Several southern Ontario communities saw more rain on Sunday and braced for still more wet weather a day after a storm soaked the region and broke at least one precipitation record.
Heavy rainfall warnings from Environment Canada remained in effect for a region that includes the GTA with more than 100 mm of precipitation expected in some places.
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In Toronto, the agency said the ground has little ability to absorb further rainfall after torrential downpours drenched the city on Saturday. Another 15 to 30 mm was forecast for Sunday evening.
Flooding was already wreaking havoc on traffic with closures affecting major highways across the city.
Mississauga Fire officials responded to flooding on Hwy. 410 as well with multiple cars stranded on the northbound lanes and people in need of a water rescue.
The department’s social media account said just before 5:30 p.m. that four vehicles had been stranded on the highway, but all three of the remaining occupants had been rescued.
Mississauga firefighters later assisted the occupants of another five stranded vehicles on the 410 northbound lanes near Courtneypark Dr. E. and were clearing the catch basins to help the water recede before the Ministry of Transportation took over.
The OPP’s Highway Safety Division said just before 9 p.m. that the 410 southbound lanes at Courtneypark and the ramp to Hwy. 407 had also been closed due to flooding. The closure was expected to remain in place overnight into Monday as the Ministry of Transportation cleared water and debris from the highway.
“Take alternate routes,” the OPP said on X.
Other roads in Mississauga were closed due to localized flooding, the city said Sunday evening on social media, but some were expected to reopen later that night as floodwaters receded.
Saturday’s downpour dumped 128.3 mm of rain at Toronto Pearson International Airport. That topped the 2013 record of 126 mm recorded at the airport, which is on tap for its rainiest summer ever.
“It’s fair to say that this has been a record-breaking season,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Trudy Kidd.
Kidd said seasonal data isn’t always complete, but available numbers already make the outcome clear.
The previous record for summer rainfall stood at 396.2 mm, but Kidd said the airport has already seen 475.7 mm this season.
The weekend rain in the region is part of a larger storm system that battered southern Ontario on Saturday.
The rain triggered numerous road closures in the Toronto area and stranded several vehicles in deep water, Toronto Police said.
Pearson airport said airlines are still recovering from Saturday’s storms, flights delayed and terminals bustling with carryover passengers from the day before. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority urged anyone with Sunday travel plans to check their flight status before leaving home.
Mississauga saw localized flooding due to the rain on Saturday with the weather disrupting traffic and causing the closure of some local parks and trails. As of Sunday morning, the city said on its website that most of the flooding had receded, but noted a rainfall warning was still in place.
Rain wasn’t the only extreme weather to hit the region. A tornado touched down Saturday morning in Ayr, Ont., south of Kitchener.
Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project confirmed the twister touched down around 11 a.m., bringing with it winds that reached 165 km/h.
The project’s executive director, David Sills, said his teams were still assessing the size of the storm.
“We’ve got trees down in every direction possible,” Sills said, but noted “this one was on the weak side.”
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— With files from Toronto Sun staff
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