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Toronto flooding: DVP reopens for morning commute after torrential rainfall

Click to play video: 'Rainstorms and flooding strand drivers in GTA'
Rainstorms and flooding strand drivers in GTA
A storm in Toronto and around the GTA caused extensive flooding Tuesday and left many drivers stranded in their vehicles and in need of rescue. Seán O’Shea reports. 

The Don Valley Parkway has reopened on Wednesday morning after major rainfall caused a portion of the roadway to flood with cars trapped.

The DVP was closed from Bayview Avenue to the Gardiner Expressway but reopened in time for the Wednesday morning commute.

More than a dozen people had to be rescued from the flooded area of the DVP and Gerrard, Toronto Fire said.

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Major flooding hit the Toronto area Tuesday leaving tens of thousands of people without power after an intense storm passed through portions of southern Ontario.

Toronto Hydro said at the peak about 167,000 people had lost power. As of Wednesday morning, 3,300 customers were still in the dark.

A spokesperson for Toronto Hydro said its believed the outages were due to flooding at a Hydro One transmission station.

Lake Shore Boulevard also flooded, prompting a closure from British Columbia Road to Strachan Avenue.

Toronto rapper Drake posted on Instagram a video of what appears to be yellow-brown coloured water rushing inside of his home with the caption “This better be Espresso Martini.”

Click to play video: 'Toronto floods: Reporter helps stranded motorists after road gets washed out'
Toronto floods: Reporter helps stranded motorists after road gets washed out

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.

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“During a 10-minute span, we recorded 26 mm of rain,” a post from the airport on X said.

Global News meteorologist Ross Hull said it appears to be the most rain that has fallen in a single day at Pearson Airport in over 10 years since that significant flooding event that occurred on July 8, 2013, when 126 mm fell.

However, Tuesday’s rainfall was the wettest on record for a July 16 in Toronto.

Top five precipitation totals recorded at Toronto Pearson Airport. Global News

Hull said much of southern Ontario was hit by torrential downpours for the second straight day with an already saturated ground from heavy rain on Monday.

With the above-normal rain this month, the sewers and drains couldn’t handle the extra water, Hull said.

“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.

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“In some cases, a month’s worth in just one hour, with 50 mm of rain coming down.”

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