FLOODING, BLACKOUT: Toronto walloped with 'extremely heavy rain'

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A summer storm unleashed torrential rains that left cars stuck on flooded roads, triggered widespread power outages and caused mayhem on Toronto’s subway system.

Environment Canada issued a warning that the GTA would see up to 125 millimetres of rain, which pummelled residents until the early afternoon before Environment Canada ended its warning.

“There are a number of calls right now where we’re actively rescuing individuals in cars that are stuck,” Toronto Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop said Tuesday afternoon. “And there’s going to be a certain lag time, on response, for non-life threatening calls. We are certainly exceedingly busy, but it’s nothing that we can’t handle.”

There was flooding on several roadways, forcing the closure of sections of the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway.

Flooding also closed Lakeshore Blvd. around Ontario Place and disrupted service at many subway stations.

“We have reports of multiple locations across the GTA with Highways flooding due to the heavy rain,” the OPP Highway Safety Division posted on X. “Please drive to the conditions, slow down and put your full headlight system on.”

Indoors, there were reports of flooding at Toronto City Hall, with Mayor Olivia Chow telling reporters that second-floor pipes were leaking, and power went out at Union Station, plunging the transportation hub into darkness. TTC trains were bypassing Union Station.

Toronto Hydro reported major power outages, posting on social media that crews were “responding to widespread outages due to a loss of supply affecting large areas throughout the city.”

The city issued an update late Tuesday afternoon saying about 109,000 Toronto Hydro customers remained without power, down from a peak of about 167,000.

Chow said emergency services were not impacted by the flooding, but couldn’t say why the DVP wasn’t closed down before some cars became stuck.

“And we know the rain, we could tell it was coming. Maybe the severity of it caught people by surprise? I don’t know,” she added. “Anytime there’s an emergency we need to review whether we’ve done everything we can — both on the prevention side and the support side when the crisis happens.”

The mayor said there would be a review to determine if there was room for improvement.

Jessop, meanwhile, told reporters that firefighters were triaging calls, giving priority to those posing the greatest risk to life.

“Those, for example, that might have alarms ringing in their buildings because of the water coming in through the roof, or through their basements, we will get to you,” he told reporters.

Jessop added the fire department had been receiving 75 to 80 calls for help each hour, “which for us is quite a bit.”

Environment Canada warned that given the “extremely heavy rain,” the ground — already saturated by previous wet weather — had little ability to absorb more water.

Torontonians and commuters were being encouraged to “pack their patience” given the many impacts.

Here’s a sampling of what people were posting on social media:

https://twitter.com/WxOntario1/status/1813238291392548898

https://twitter.com/WxOntario1/status/1813238291392548898