TORONTO- The north- and southbound lanes of the Don Valley Parkway have reopened after major flooding across the Toronto area closed highways and disrupted public transit Wednesday morning.
Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong praised city workers’ rapid response to the rising waters at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
“We have an alarm system on Dundas Street that went out at 3 a.m. Staff were immediately deployed around 4 a.m. They began closing roadways, changed signal timings,” Minnan-Wong said.
The councillor said that Environment Canada had only expected a 10 mm rainfall Wednesday morning.
WATCH: Mayor Rob Ford speaks about flooding on the DVP.
Mayor Rob Ford also praised city staff and said the city is monitoring a coming storm.
“We don’t know how much rain we are going to get but we are expecting a severe amount,” Ford said at an afternoon press conference. “We are monitoring the situation very closely.”
The mayor also said he wants the city to set aside additional funds to be used in weather emergencies.
WATCH: A stretch of the Don Valley Parkway was shut down for most of the morning. Marianne Dimain reports.
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has said parts of the city received up to 60 mm of rain overnight Tuesday.
“We didn’t see this coming,” Minnan-Wong said explaining that extreme bursts of inclement weather are hard to anticipate.
Minnan-Wong says the city’s “system is right now at capacity.” So another expected storm later tonight causes “some concern.”
“If there is going to be a problem, the city will tell the media and advise the public,” he said.
Cars were spotted floating on the Don Valley Parkway early Wednesday, while several other roads were closed due to flooding.
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