Heavy rains cause flooding, power outages in Toronto

Environment Canada says 90 millimetres of rain has hit some parts of the GTA

CBC News

Posted: Jul 8, 2013 5:49 PM ET

Last Updated: Jul 8, 2013 10:38 PM ET

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• A woman gets gets out of her stalled car to check under the hood on a flooded Lakeshore Boulevard on July 8. A series of storms caused flooding and power outages across southern Ontario, including downtown Toronto. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

A month’s worth of rain fell on Toronto in just a few hours on Monday, leaving cars and commuters stranded, crippling the subway system and leaving some 300,000 customers without power across the city.

The rain started arriving ahead of the supper hour, which caused severe flooding, major public transit delays and power outages across the city.
Pedestrians sought shelter where they could as they waited out the weather.

For drivers and commuters, the voyage home was just as problematic. The rain made it hard to see, while the pools of water made it hard to drive and in some cases drivers were unable to move.
Environment Canada has put Toronto under a severe thunderstorm warning due to a "cluster" of storms that are making their way towards the city from the Brampton and Mississauga areas.

"Total rainfall amounts over 90 mm have been reported in some locations thus far, and will likely exceed 100 mm before the rainfall tapers off later this evening," said a weather warning from Environment Canada.

On Monday evening, Mayor Rob Ford told CBC Radio that "it's all hands on deck" to deal with the fallout from the storm and the damage it has caused to the city.
"We've brought in crews, we’ve brought in everybody to deal with the storm," Ford said in a brief telephone interview.

Initial reports from Toronto Hydro initially advised that the rain could lead to local outages. But within hours, the utility would report that some 300,000 customers were without power.
A man is seen dumping water out of shoe near the corner of Shuter and Church streets in downtown Toronto after a torrential downpour on Monday, July 8. (Matt Kwong/CBC)

Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Bruckmueller said the approach of nightfall would be an additional challenge for people trying to turn the lights back on for affected customers.

"There's not a lot that will change once it starts getting dark. It'll be harder for the crews... they need to be able to identify where the damage is so it'll take longer in the night,” she told The Canadian Press.

Power outages were just as much of a concern in Mississauga, Ont., the sixth largest city in Canada, which lies to the west of Toronto. Eightly per cent of customers were said to be without power after the rain on Monday.

In Toronto, power and signal issues brought the subway system to a halt and in some cases, subway stations had flooding.

Some parts of the subway were operating again by 8 p.m. The Scarborough Rapid Transit Line is operating as are most streetcars.

For people standing on the street waiting for buses, a number of passengers were left watching as fully packed buses drove by without any room to take them aboard.

Sudden flooding left vehicles stranded in various places in Toronto. Katie Brown sent in this picture of the Old Mill Bridge on Monday evening. (Photo tweeted by @katiebrown7)

The rain was also causing problems for GO Transit passengers, including delays and a few cancellations on the Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Richmond Hill and Lakeshore East lines. Many GO buses were delayed by half an hour or longer as a result of the weather. In one case, a train that was heading to Richmond Hill got stranded and a police marine unit was eventually called in to evacuate the people on board.

For people hoping to fly in or out of Toronto, the rain was causing problems as well. On Monday evening, Porter Airlines tweeted that all of its Toronto flights had been cancelled for the rest of the day. Air Canada said flights to or from Pearson airport could be delayed or cancelled as a result of the weather.