Major flooding hit the Toronto area Tuesday and tens of thousands of people lost power after an intense storm passed through portions of southern Ontario.
Flooding on the Don Valley Parkway saw some vehicles partially submerged in the water, which prompted a closure of a large part of the highway.
Toronto Fire Services (TFS) said in a post on X that two people were rescued from flooding at Bayview Avenue and the DVP, one of whom was inside of their vehicle and the other on a car’s roof.
In a follow up post, firefighters said another 12 people were rescued from flooding at Gerrard Street and the DVP.
“TFS has been responding to an extremely high number of rescues related to flooding and elevator entrapments,” the service said.
Lake Shore Boulevard also flooded, prompting a closure from British Columbia Road to Strachan Avenue.
Flooding was also reported at Toronto’s Union Station.
Water was seen pooling on the floor of a main concourse and stores at the station were closed. Parts of the underground PATH network, which has retail and restaurants and connects to Union, were also closed due to flooding.
The TTC notices page on X was filled with warnings of detours and rerouting due to flooding.
The TTC said the rainfall caused “unprecedented” service impacts, affecting service on subways, buses and streetcars.
GO Transit reported several cancellations and delays out of Union.
In Peel Region, police there said they had reports of “manhole covers lifting due to the volume of rain.”
Southbound Highway 410 under Highway 401 was closed due to water and was expected to remain closed into Wednesday for cleanup.
Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services said firefighters were checking around 50 vehicles on Queen Frederica Drive in the Dixie Road and Dundas Street East area to make sure no one was stranded.
“Numerous rescues are ongoing throughout the city,” Mississauga fire said.
“All rescue teams have been deployed.”
Emergency crews were also on scene at a nursing home located in the area of Tomken Road and Eglinton Avenue East, where a creek overflowed.
Police services throughout the GTA warned of flooded roadways.
In Halton Region, police said emergency crews were called to a location on 8th line south of Georgetown amid reports of three construction workers caught in an underground tunnel with water flowing in.
They all made it out of the tunnel and no injuries were reported.
Toronto Hydro said as of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, some 167,000 customers were without power. The utility’s online outage map showed large portions of the city were without power.
A spokesperson for Toronto Hydro said its believed the outages were due to flooding at a Hydro One transmission station.
“Please know that we are working closely with Hydro One to resolve the issue and restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” the spokesperson said.
On Tuesday evening, Toronto Hydro said there had been “progress” but that one station that “feeds the west end” of Toronto was still impacted.
“We are working to restore power,” a social media post said.
Environment Canada had issued rainfall warnings for the Greater Toronto Area and a large part of southern Ontario.
Toronto Pearson Airport said 97.8 mm fell there on Tuesday, making it the fifth rainiest day on record and the highest rainfall in a single day since July 8, 2013.
“During a 10-minute span, we recorded 26 mm of rain,” a post from the airport on X said.
Environment Canada warned that heavy downpours could cause flash floods and water pooling on roads as well as localized flooding in low-lying areas.
Images from Toronto showed significant downpours with ponding and pooling on local roads. Sewers were also seen overflowing from the excess rain.
During an Ontario government transit-related announcement outside, the rain caused major pooling on top of the tent, forcing staff to push the water off.
Global News meteorologist Anthony Farnell said there was a significant flood threat with the “thunderstorms training over the same area dropping 50 to 80 mm of rain on saturated soil.”
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) issued a flood warning due to the storm.
“Please exercise extreme caution around all bodies of water and avoid driving on flooded roadways or in low-lying areas and underpasses,” the TRCA said.
‘Month’s worth of rain in just a matter of hours’
Global News meteorologist Ross Hull said much of southern Ontario was hit by torrential downpours for the second straight day.
“On Monday, areas like London and Burlington got the worst of it. However, as another round of storms moved in on Tuesday, much of the GTA, including the downtown, were flooded with more than a month’s worth of rain in just a matter of hours with more than 100 mm falling in some spots,” he said.
“In some cases, a month’s worth in just one hour, with 50 mm of rain coming down.”
Hull said with the ground already saturated from heavy rain on Monday and overall above-normal rain this month, sewers and drains couldn’t handle the extra water.
“Significant flooding has occurred around the area with many area waterways moving much quicker and higher than normal,” Hull said.
He said it appears to be the most rain that has fallen in a single day at Pearson Airport since a significant flooding event that occurred on July 8, 2013, when 126 mm fell.
— With files from The Canadian Press